Innocent Illusions
by charrrr
Summary: Gracie Benedict is out of control- her behaviour and attitude is terrible, she's not doing well at school, and she has no control over her powers. Her parents have had enough and they only have one solution left: they send her to a boarding school in England specially for out of control savant teens. What Gracie encounters there... Well, it's certainly not what she expected.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Hello! So if you've read my other stories you will already be familiar with Gracie. She was practically one of the main characters in Safe & Sound despite being a nine year old child at the time, and there are a few little details from that story that I've put in this one (for example, her favourite colours- in Safe & Sound she decorated her room those colours with Trace).

Now there might be small spoilers for future stories in my 'series' but when I say small I mean _very small_. Like in this chapter it says Yves' soulfinder's name. There might be other things like that, plus maybe job promotions or new jobs, etc. Nothing that will spoil major plots or anything so don't worry :) Also, it won't spoil the end of Love & War at all, I promise.

Well I hope you like it; please leave reviews to let me know your thoughts.

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**12th January 2020**

Life could be cruel to you sometimes for absolutely no reason at all. It can creep up and surprise you and land some disastrous shock into your lap like it doesn't even care how you feel... But sometimes, just sometimes, the cruelty it brings upon you is your own doing. Sometimes it's your own fault that bad things happen in your life and there's nothing you can do but deal with the consequences for your actions.

Gracie Karla Benedict was having to deal with the consequences for her actions whether she liked it or not. And her consequences? Well, her parents had made the tough decision to send her away to a boarding school specially for troubled and/or out of control savants from the ages of eleven to eighteen. Gracie was just sixteen years old; she didn't want to be at a school in the middle of nowhere in Yorkshire, half a world away from her family and friends and surrounded by people she didn't know.

She was furious at her parents for doing this to her. Trace and Georgie had joined her on the plane to London, then the train to the part of Yorkshire the school was located, and then in a taxi to the actual school. They'd left her two younger siblings with her uncle Yves and aunt Jessamine, claiming that this trip would be just about Gracie. _Yeah it's all about me, _she thought to herself bitterly as she glared out of the taxi window. _All about getting rid of me because they don't want me anymore._

They passed hills and fields, every inch of it looking the exact same, making Gracie want to hurl in horror. The countryside all looked the same and she didn't think it was beautiful like other people said it was; she thought it was boring and dull and the thought of having to live here for the next seven months sounded like something out of a horror movie to her. Finally, after a forty-five minute drive the taxi pulled up to the school and Gracie clambered out of the taxi, staring up at the school with wide eyes, her mouth dropped into the shape of an 'O'.

The school was bigger than she had expected, made of brick and white-painted window panes. Trails of ivy ran up the sides of the walls, making the school look more like a huge mansion than a school. The double wide oak doors swung open and a woman walked out straight towards them. Trace and Georgie had got out of the taxi, asking the driver to wait- they'd have a hell of a high taxi bill for sure. The woman was dressed in a grey trouser-suit, her mousy brown hair streaked with grey and tied into a tight bun at the top of her head. A smile was plastered on her face and she shook their hands when she finally reached them.

"You must be Mr and Mrs Benedict, and Gracie Benedict. My name is Mrs Burn and I'm the headteacher here," she spoke, her accent a true Yorkshire one. "My ancestors created this school for savants and I am honoured to be a part of it, and glad that we have a new student to join our ranks." She turned to Gracie, the wide smile still on her face; it looked as fake as a Barbie's smile. "Gracie Benedict, your parents have told me all I need to know about you, and I have to admit that I think you will benefit well from this school. Now I'm afraid this is where you'll have to say goodbye to your parents and then I'll take you to your dorm room seeing as the school day has finished already."

Gracie reluctantly turned to look at her parents, a grim expression on her face. "Please don't make me stay here," she begged them. "I promise that I'll behave better and focus on school more. Please, I don't want to stay here on my own."

Trace sighed, looking at his daughter with pity in his eyes. "Gracie we've had this conversation already," he said softly. "You've made that promise before and you've never stuck to it, this is our final option. Besides I think Mrs Burn is right; you'll benefit well from being here. It's not just about your behaviour but your power as well. You've very strong and without your soulfinder you have no way of being able to control it. They'll teach you all about control here-"

"Yeah yeah yeah," she interrupted him, rolling her eyes. "You've already said all of that a hundred times before." When Gracie was younger, she'd had an English accent from when she lived in Leeds but now, seven years later, she had picked up the American accent easily and sounded like a true American. She turned to look at Georgie, her mother whom she had always had a very close bond with. "Mum," she pleaded, their matching eyes meeting. "_Please_."

Georgie shook her head. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Your father and I both wish that it hadn't come to this but your behaviour is out of control and we honestly think is the best place for you to be." She stepped forward and tucked a piece of Gracie's hair behind her ears. "Just finish the school year here and after July you can come home. If you don't want to return here in September, we won't make you, okay? You can call us any time that you want and we go on Skype and you can tell us all about what's going on in your life. We'll miss you so much," she added, openly crying. She pulled Gracie into her arms, embracing her tightly for a moment before reaching one hand out to pull Trace into the hug with them.

Gracie just stood there, not hugging them back and forcing herself not to let them see her cry. She knew that later on when it really hit her that she was all alone, she would regret not saying goodbye to them properly but at that moment she was angry with them still and this was her way of letting them know that. When they finally let go of her, Gracie walked around to where the taxi driver had pulled her belongings out of the trunk. She'd brought one large suitcase full of her things as well as a large shoulder bag; she swung the bag over her shoulder and pulled her suitcase behind her, going back over to where the three adults were stood.

"Right then," Mrs Burn said cheerily, clapping her hands together once. "Are you ready to see your dorm room, Gracie? Your roommates are lovely girls, I'm sure you'll get along with them."

"Yeah sure," she said without any enthusiasm whatsoever. "Bye Mum, bye dad."

"We'll see you soon, okay?" Trace said, sounding like he was holding back tears too. "You'll enjoy yourself here I just know you will; it's just seven months Gracie, just seven months."

Gracie simply nodded and turned around, following Mrs Burn as she led her away. On each side of the school there was a tall building that looked very similar to the school itself except for the fact it was taller and less wide. The headteacher seemed to be leading her towards the building on the left side of the school. Gracie allowed herself one last look over her shoulder at her parents: Georgie was sobbing with her head buried in Trace's chest as he held her tightly. _They'll be okay, _she thought to herself. _They have each other._ She still remembered the days when it was just her, her mother, and her grandad. Georgie would be happy but even Gracie, who was just a little girl at the time, would notice that there was a sadness to her mum that disappeared when they moved to Wrickenridge and found Trace again; she'd loved seeing the change in her mum. Despite being angry at her parents she at least realized they were upset about this too, but was glad to know that they had each other and her two siblings- seven year old Mark Saul and two year old Willow Victoria. Mark and Willow would definitely keep them busy and stop them from thinking of Gracie all the time.

She didn't look at her parents again after that and instead quickly followed Mrs Burn into the building, lugging her suitcase behind her. "This is the girls' building," Mrs Burn explained to her as they entered what looked like a lounge area. There were five flat screen TV's, a few sofas and chairs, some beanbags and a computer. There were about eight girls in the room, none of whom looked over at them, too immersed in the two shows that were being shown on two of the televisions. "This is the lounge. You can come here whenever you want in your spare time. We have Sky broadband, including wireless internet and phones that call overseas; we pay the phone bill so don't worry about that. Most students have their own laptops but if you don't you can use the computer over there. That door in the corner leads to a kitchen- you'll only find drinks and snacks in there, main meals are served in the cafeteria at set times. You'll quickly get the hang of it, I'm sure."

She turned to lead Gracie up a spiral shaped staircase, continuing to rattle off information as they went. "The school is only small. There are only about forty female students and sixty male students. The savant net either suggests that a teenager comes here, or approves a parent's request for a place here. We only take in savants that the net truly believe need our help. And this is the only school like this for savants in the entire world," she said, a proud tone in her voice.

"So, do you like have kids from all over the world?" Gracie asked curiously.

"Oh yes," Mrs Burn nodded. They reached a landing but Mrs Burn continued up another flight of stairs. "Your room is on the top floor, let's keep going. Anyway, as I was saying we have students from all over the world. We have translators for those that don't speak English as well as giving them lessons to learn the language. The net give us funding and we get plenty of donations from parents that help us keep this place running and help us be able to accommodate all of our students to the best of our ability. In fact, your parents gave a very wealthy donation to the school that they informed me had been put together by not just them but your aunts and uncles too which was very nice of them."

Gracie hadn't known that little fact but she didn't mention that. The family had thrown her a goodbye party with all of her uncles, her aunts, her cousins and her grandmother there. She'd enjoyed herself but had also been sad for obvious reason, but she'd thought that her family disagreed with the decision to send her to boarding school in England, so why would they donate money to the school? Sighing, she stayed silent until they finally reached the top floor after she had struggled with her suitcase up eight flights of stairs.

They walked along to the end of the corridor and to a door with a small whiteboard hung on it. Each door had one and this door had 'Samira and Allie's room' wrote on it in a red marker. "This will be your room," Mrs Burn said to Gracie. "Samira and Allie are downstairs in the lounge, I saw them. I did ask them to be up here to welcome you, but I guess they thought you'd want your space. Some students have their own rooms if we think they're possibly too dangerous and unpredictable to share, and the highest amount of people we have in one room is four. Each room has an en-suite bathroom which we expect you to share with your roommates without arguments. Boys are allowed in the dorms up until 5pm, and you're allowed in the boys dorms until 5pm. We have dorm wardens to check that you're following the rules." She swung the bedroom door upon and gestured into the room. "Well, I'll let you get settled now. Your timetable and a copy of the school rules are in the room, you'll be starting classes tomorrow."

Gracie stepped into the room and said a quick thank you before Mrs Burn shut the door behind her and left Gracie alone. She looked around the bedroom, surprised that it was actually quite nice. Samira and Allie had both used blue tack to stick photos of their families and friends on the walls and had a nice dark wood desk, along with a bookcase crammed with books. There was a fluffy pink rug on the floor that matched the colour of the curtains, and thankfully it seemed like they were tidy people; Gracie would have hated to live with somebody that liked to leave a mess around the room. She knew that it was going to take a while to get used to sharing a room with two other girls considering she'd never shared a room with anybody in her life before.

There were three single beds- one had a silk multi-covered throw over it, one had a bright pink duvet, and one had a duvet and cushions without any sheets on that she guessed was hers. She placed her bag and suitcase at the bottom of the bed and rooted around in the bag for her sheets. The sheets were striped with her two favourite colours: green and purple.

After sorting her bed out, she sat down on the edge of it, silently looking around at what was going to be her home for the next seventh months.

And then she started to cry, already regretting her behaviour and lack of control on her power, praying and wishing that her parents would change their mind and come and rescue her from this place. She'd never felt so alone in her life.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Wow, thank you so much for the reviews; I wasn't expecting so much great feedback. I appreciate it so much.

This chapter is a little short, but the next one will be longer :)

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**13th January 2020**

The night before Gracie had fallen asleep after unpacking, her roommates having not come back to the room yet so she didn't have the chance to meet them. Hushed laughter awoke her in the morning and she blinked a few times, lifting her hands to rub sleep out of her eyes. She sat up in the bed as the laughter stopped and the room went silent, dropping her hands. Two girls were stood looking down at her, curious looks on their faces.

One was about 5'6" with light brown skin, long dark hair and a thin frame; she looked like like she was Indian. She was wearing a colourful sari with perfect embroidery that made her perfectly smooth skin almost shine in contrast; she was exotically beautiful in Gracie's opinion, absolutely stunning. The second girl was smaller, probably only about 5'2" but she wasn't a small girl weight-wise. It was obvious that she had just got out of the shower as she was wrapped in a white towel that was tight on her body. She had blonde hair that was cut in a sleek, naturally-straight bob and her round, chubby face had a few red spots that stood out against her pale white skin.

"Good morning," the Indian girl said, an accent to her voice. "I'm Samira Saresh, but you can just call me Sam. This is Allie Parker," she gestured towards her friend. "We were actually about to wake you so you could use the shower after Allie if you wanted. They start serving breakfast in a half an hour if you want to come down with us?"

Gracie stumbled out of the bed, her 6 foot frame towering over the two girls. Both Trace and Georgie were quite tall and Gracie had inherited that from them; she was already as tall as two of her uncles and taller than some of her aunties. "Yeah that'd be great. Thank you," she said gratefully. "I showered last night though, so I don't need to have one right now. I'm Gracie Benedict, by the way."

"No way!" Allie gasped, her mouth dropping open. "That's totally ace. Are you part of that American family, the Benedict bunch?" Gracie watched enough reality TV to recognise that Allie was from Newcastle.

"Yeah," Gracie nodded. "You've heard of us?" It was a bit of a stupid question to ask really considering she knew that her family were quite well-known in the savant world for all the work they did and because of how powerful they were, but it just seemed like the right thing to ask. Besides, she wouldn't want to come off as big-headed or anything in front of her roommates, now would she?

"Oh absolutely!" Allie nodded, grinning enthusiastically. "Everybody has. There were rumours that a Benedict was coming to the school but like, nobody knew whether or not to believe it, you know? So you should expect people to be very interested in you today, they always are with new students. They'll be wondering why you're here and what your power is. The guys will be wondering when your birthday is so they can see if you're their soulfinder... The first day is always the worst. How old are you anyway?"She rattled off the sentences without barely even taking a breath which Gracie thought was actually rather impressive.

"Sixteen."

"Oh! We are too, that means we might have some classes together. You know, it's totally not even that bad here, not like everybody says it is. Like, most people are quite nice even though you wouldn't expect that-"

"Allie," Sam interrupted her, sounding amused and rolling her eyes. "At least let Gracie wake up properly before you bombard her with pointless drivel. Sorry Gracie, she's always full of energy, even in the morning. It's so exhausting."

Allie childishly stuck her tongue out at Sam before heading over to her bed - hers was the one with the bright pink duvet - to rummage around in the chest of drawers next to the bed. Sam went over to her bed too, giving Gracie the space to get ready herself. Grabbing her toiletries bag, she went into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, her unusual grey eyes staring back at her.

Gracie had slightly tanned skin, a mixture of her mum's white skin and her dad's light brown, that she never could quite find the right foundation colour for so she had to go without. She brushed her teeth then washed her face, before applying moisturizer to her skin. She put on her usual eye make-up, and tugged a brush through her hair, not doing anything else with it because it actually took her hours to do something with her hair. Her dark hair went to the middle of her back, the thickness of it and the natural curls making it rather big. She knew that a lot of people back-combed their hair and put half a can of hairspray on it to get her natural look, but that didn't stop her from hating her hair.

When she went back into the bedroom, Samira and Allie were both dressed and Sam was straightening Allie's short bob.

As Gracie rooted around in her chest of drawers - she had unpacked all of her things last night to pass the time - for an outfit to wear, thankful that this school didn't have uniforms like others in the UK, she asked the girls, "so it is strict here? Like, the lessons and stuff."

"Hmm," Sam thought about this for a moment. "Well, I wouldn't say that it's overly-strict because they do give us our freedom and it's a lot like normal schools in a way. But they do expect a lot from us, especially improvement in lessons about our powers if we have them, and can be quite hard on us if we're not doing well. But like I said, we have our freedom. At weekends we're allowed to go into the town not far from here and we're allowed parties too. I promise Gracie, you'll like it here. We'll make sure you will."

Gracie returned her smile although inside she heavily doubted that she would enjoy herself at this place. She quickly changed into the outfit she'd chosen for the day: a white knitted sweater with a black kitten on it, black leggings and Converse. She was grateful that her mum had thought to take her on a shopping trip for a whole new wardrobe after looking out of the window and seeing the rain; they had rain in Wrickenridge yeah, but not often, it was normally sunny and warm weather so Gracie was used to wearing tank tops and short shorts.

"Oooh I love your jumper," Allie gushed when Sam finished her hair and she turned around. "I would totally ask to borrow your clothes but I clearly wouldn't fit in them. That's okay though, I mean I like how I look, but still." She laughed loudly. "Are you ready for your first day of school, Gracie-Lou?" The nickname came out of nowhere but it didn't bother Gracie. In fact, it reminded her of home: her uncles often called her Gracie-Lou.

"No," she replied with a sigh. "But let's get it over with."

* * *

After her morning classes were over, Gracie was exhausted. Her classmates would stare at her nosily and her teachers would keep an eye her to see what kind of student she was; the whole thing just made Gracie so stressed and paranoid.

In the cafeteria at dinner, she couldn't spot Sam or Allie anywhere and nobody seemed to want to offer her a seat, so she sat at a table on her own and tucked into her pasta. One good thing she could say about this school was that the food - which was all home-made by the cooks - was absolutely delicious. Sitting on her own while everybody around her laughed with their friends was a lonely feeling and Gracie definitely wasn't used to it considering she had been quite popular at her old school. They had an hour for dinner but it only took Gracie ten minutes to finish the pasta, so she was left wandering around the school corridors and wondering what to do.

She thought about going back to her dorm room where she'd left her phone so that she could call her parents- they'd said they'd answer the phone whenever she called, despite the time difference. But the truth was, she was still angry and she wanted to lash out at them and punish them in some way. Not calling them when she knew they'd want her to was her way of doing that.

She looked out of one of the windows to the acres of fields behind the school. Some younger boys weren't bothered by the rain and were out playing soccer - or football as they called it over here - seemingly not caring that they were getting their clothes muddy and would have to stay in them for the rest of the day. And then further to the right, shortly behind the boys' dorm building, were two structures. Both were one-level buildings made of solid brick and they looked a lot like barns or stables.

Gracie smiled, a curious excitement taking over her at the thought of there being animals here. She had always loved animals, working with them being her dream job. Once upon a time her main love had been marine animals but since the age of thirteen she had been doing volunteer work at Denver Zoo where her uncle Uriel was the manager, so now she loved all types of animals. Not only did the zoo have typical zoo animals, but it had an aquatic centre, as well as an outside section that had a barn full of farm animals. Working there was a release for her and she learnt that she got along with animals much more than people.

She opened the door that led outside and rushed across the field as fast as she could, her Converse getting covered in mud and her jumper getting drenched. She went to the closest building first and swung the door open, going inside and closing it behind her. She grinned when she realized that this was a horses stables. She walked down the length of the stables, counting each pen as she went: there were six horses, three ponies and two Shetland ponies.

The horses and ponies each had their own pen whilst the Shetland's shared a pen. There were five pens on each side of the building, with a wide alleyway separating the two for you to walk down. The last pen on the left had a scruffy-looking horse with a wild dark mane and grey fur with large black spots on. Gracie had never actually seen a horse that colour before and thought it was beautiful. When the horse looked up at her and took a step closer curiously, Gracie smiled. The horse got close to the gate and Gracie lifted a hand to stroke it, all her worries and problems of starting this new school disappearing as she found herself in this familiar environment.

She was so engrossed in stroking the horse and enjoying this moment of relaxation that she didn't realise somebody else had come into the stables until she heard a masculine voice with an Irish accent ask, "what are you doing in here?"


	3. Chapter 3

**13th January 2020**

People stared at him and whispered, the year eleven boy sat on his own the object of their attention. Everywhere he went in the school, they stared at him, gossiping about him and constantly spreading rumours. Nobody liked him and nobody wanted to be friends with him- secretly, they were all a little scared of him but they would never admit that of course. A lot of the girls found him attractive, but still went nowhere near him despite what he looked like.

He was tall for his age, just over 6 foot, and had strawberry blonde hair that was always messy seeing as he never did anything with it. He had a lean yet muscular physique, and Mediterranean blue eyes. Really his only fault appearance-wise, was that one of his top front teeth was chipped in half. As he finished off his dinner, a group of his classmates walked past, whispering "freak" into his ear as they went.

With a sigh, he stood up and pulled on his waterproof jacket without responding to his classmates. He quickly walked through the cafeteria without meeting the eyes of any of the other students before heading outside. His wellies squelched in the mud as he stepped onto the field and he pulled his hood up as the downfall of rain began to hit him. Deciding to feed the horses first instead of the farm animals, he headed into the stables and stopped when the door closed behind him and he saw a girl at the other side of the stables.

He walked towards her and stopped a short distance away, the girl still unaware of his presence. Looking her up and down, he wondered if she was some sort of idiot when it came to British weather. It was freezing and pouring it down with rain, yet there she was without even a coat on and with trainers on her feet. She was absolutely drenched, her long hair straightened out from the rain and clinging to her tanned skin. She was leaning over the gate and stroking one of the horses. He wasn't blind and oblivious to girls; he had to admit that this girl had a nice body. She was nearly as tall as him, with long legs and gentle curves to her frame.

It was very rare that students came over to see the animals by their own choice and not for an odd lesson plan by one of the teachers so he was surprised to see another student here. Curious, he asked, "what are you doing in here?" His Irish accent stood out like it always did- although this school was for savants all over the world, most of them were from various parts of England, with the odd few from other countries. He was only one of three Irish students here.

His voice made the girl jump and she quickly spun around to face him, a hand pressed to her chest. Clearly, he had scared the life out of her; he didn't know how on Earth she hadn't noticed him entering. "Oh!" She exclaimed. The first thing he noticed about the girl was that she had a beautiful face and large, unusual grey eyes. "I'm sorry, are students not allowed in here? I didn't know, it's my first day."

She had an American accent that made him raise his eyebrows. They didn't have any American students. Unless the rumours were true about a Benedict coming to the school. "No, students are allowed. I'm a student, I'm in year eleven."

"Oh. Me too," she smiled a little, revealing small dimples in each of her cheeks. "Why did you ask why I was in here then?"

"Because I'm literally the only student that's interested in coming in here," he laughed. "I help out in here, feed the animals and clean the enclosures. I don't get paid or anything, I just like animals."

"Really?" She asked, sounding like she didn't believe him. "A sixteen year old boy is volunteering to do all that work for free? That's not something you see every day."

He smirked, liking her confidence. He knew that she wouldn't be talking to him like this if she knew who he was and knew all the rumours going around the school about him, but for now he was just enjoying the banter. "Yeah well, I have nothing better to do with my time." He walked over and looked into the pen at the horse she had been stroking. "You like Ruby? Really?"

"What's wrong with her?" The girl asked, a small frown marring her face. "She's lovely."

"No she's not," he scoffed. "That's why she's called Ruby. Danielle, the staff member in charge of the horses, is a big fan of the TV show 'Supernatural', and this horse is known for being a little demon, hence the name Ruby. This horse is a nightmare to work with. Doesn't like being stroked or groomed, doesn't let anybody ride her, tries to bite when you go into her pen... I'm surprised she let you stroke her, actually."

"Huh, she wasn't like that with me at all," the girl replied before shifting on the spot and looking up at him from under long eyelashes. "Do you think I'd be able to help out with the animals too? You see, I've always loved animals and I used to volunteer at the zoo, including working with farm animals they have there." She smiled at him hopefully.

He thought of working with her every day, just the two of them away from the rest of the idiots at this stupid school and smiled back at her. Maybe he'd finally have a friend, he thought to himself. "I'll have to ask Danielle and you'd have to be willing to work in the mornings, during your dinner break, and after school."

"I'm fine with that," she answered quickly, nodding her head eagerly.

"Well I'm sure that'll be fine. Tell you what, come here tomorrow at dinner time and I'll tell you what she said, okay?"

"Sure, thank you. I'm Gracie, by the way. Gracie Benedict," she introduced herself, confirming his guess that she was the Benedict everyone had been talking about the arrival of. She held out her hand and he took hold of it, her palm warm against his as they shook hands.

He grinned and introduced himself. "I'm Killian Ashe."

* * *

Her afternoon classes went just as terrible as her morning classes, apart from her last lesson of the day: Sports, also known as PE. She had the lesson at the end of every weekday according to her timetable, and Sam and Allie - both of whom were in her group - explained that on Friday's they had the lesson with the boys as well. Sports had always been Gracie's favourite lesson at school because she was naturally a competitive person and was quite athletic. In today's lesson they had been playing badminton and Gracie and Sam, who had been paired up, won all of their games.

After the lesson, Sam and Allie invited Gracie to watch a few TV programmes with them before they went back to the cafeteria for the last meal of the day (she was used to calling it dinner like they did in America, but over here they called it tea). They joined some of Sam and Allie's other friends - Gracie didn't even bother to try and remember all of their names - and Gracie sat in silence as they chatted around her. She was thankful to have people to sit with this time but still felt out of place considering she didn't know any of them. They asked her a few questions, interested to know things about the new girl, but other than that they didn't speak to her.

She ate another mouthful of her tea as she looked around the cafeteria, not knowing who she was looking for until her eyes spotted him. Killian was sat on his own with his head down, as if he wanted to be as unnoticeable as possible, as he ate. He looked like a completely different person to the confident, certain boy she had met at lunch time.

Absentmindedly, she nudged Allie who was sat next to her and quietly asked, "what do you know about him?" She nodded towards Killian to indicate who she meant.

Allie's eyes widened and she grinned. Gracie got the feeling Allie loved to gossip and she knew a lot of gossip about him. "Oh that's Killian Ashe. Nobody really knows what his power is but they say it's very powerful and he struggles really hard to keep control of it. He's so dangerous that he doesn't have a roommate because Burn is worried about the other person's safety too much. He's totally a loner, he has no friends, but that's not surprising- he doesn't even talk to anybody, he just sits there in class. He's totally brainy though, always gets the best results in class, and he spends all his free time with the animals.

"Apparently, he's an orphan and was sent here by the net because all his foster families have been injured somehow and the care home he was in couldn't handle him anymore. This is his second year here and he even stays here during the holidays. He doesn't have a home to go back to.

"I know he's totally gorgeous Gracie, but don't go anywhere near him. Like I said, he's really dangerous and there are even rumours that he killed somebody back in Ireland- that's where he's from. Oh and last month, he beat up this guy in my Maths class called Noel for no reason at all. He just suddenly turned violent and lashed out and Noel ended up in hospital. Killian Ashe is not a nice guy _at all_."

Gracie frowned, her eyes still looking at Killian. That didn't sound like the guy she'd talked to in the stables one bit, nor did it sound like the guy who was sat on his own, trying not to draw attention to himself. "How do you know all of that's true?" She couldn't help herself from asking. "I mean, they might just be rumours."

"Well yeah but why else would Burn not give him a roommate? Plus, his lessons about controlling his power are private. There aren't any other students in the class and none of the teachers will tell anyone what his power is," said Allie. "Gracie, just trust me on this. Killian is bad news."

* * *

That evening, Gracie left Sam and Allie downstairs - there was only so much TV she could watch in one day - and headed upstairs to her bedroom. She was no good at converting time so she had no idea what time it would be in America, but she grabbed her mobile anyway and dialled the house phone number. She was still angry at her parents for sending her here and a part of her still wanted to punish them but she missed them so much already.

After a few rings, the phone was picked up and she heard her mother's voice. "Hello?"

"Mum? It's me, Gracie."

"Gracie! Sweetheart, hello. I'm so glad you've called, I've been waiting by the phone ever since we got back. How are you? Are you enjoying yourself? Have you made any friends? What are your classes like? You're eating properly, aren't you? I don't want you getting too skinny," she said in a rush, a mother worried for her daughter.

Gracie rolled her eyes, expecting nothing less from Georgie. "I'm okay, mum. The food's great and the lessons could be worse, I guess. I miss home though."

"I know, we miss you too," Georgie sighed, talking at a normal pace now. "You know, I found Mark and Willow in your bedroom earlier. Willow was sat on your bed and Mark was looking at the photos on your wall. When I asked him what he was doing, he started crying and said he wished you could come home."

"Why can't I?" She moaned. "I don't like it here, please mum."

"Honey this is for your own good, I promise. You'll thank us for this one day, I know you will. What are your roommates like? Have you made friends?"

"Yeah, Sam and Allie seem great. I don't know if I have that much in common with them though, and Allie believes a bunch of gossip about someone, I don't really like that about her. Maybe I'll become better friends with them later on." She thought about the gossip Allie had believed, which took her mind back to Killian; she smiled, instantly in a better mood, eager to tell her mum the good news. "Did you know there are animals here? Horses, ponies and some farm animals. I might be able to help out with looking after them, someone's going to look into it for me."

"Well that's great! See, the school isn't that bad, now is it?" She heard a smile in her mother's voice. "I'm glad there's something there to cheer you up."

"Me too. Can I talk to dad, is he there?"

"Unfortunately he's not, I'm sorry. There was a bank robbery, can you believe it? So your father's working. He was so looking forward to talking to you though, he sends his love. Everybody does. We've actually sent a little something in the post for you, it's a surprise. Okay, so your brother and sister are watching the kids channel and I'm sat down, ready for a long chat with my best friend." Gracie grinned at her mother's words. "Now, I want details about everything, Gracie! What did you do in your lessons today? Ooh, are there are cute boys that you like?"

Gracie laughed and ignored the second question, instead launching into a lengthy discussion about her lessons. It was nice to have a normal, carefree talk with her mum, but she still longed to be at home and to be able to have the conversation face-to-face.

* * *

Author's note: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews you're leaving, they're brilliant. I've started a new story about Zed and his soulfinder. It's called "A Pocket Full Of Soul" so go and check it out if you want :D xo


	4. Chapter 4

**14th January 2020**

Her first lesson of the day today was called "power construction." Basically, it was a lesson that all students had to have fitted into their timetable at least once a week (Gracie had it four days a week which her roommates were surprised at- Gracie supposed they were finally realising that she was dangerous) where they would learn how to control, or even improve, their power and make it stronger. It also helped make the student be safer to be around which was a very common reason some of the students were at the school in the first place. Sam and Allie told Gracie that sometimes Power Construction classes had up to thirty students, and some only had two or three students- apart from Killian Ashe, whom was the only student in the entire school to have the class on his own. The teachers decided which class you got put in based on what your power was, how dangerous you were, how much control you had over it and how much help you needed.

"I only have Power Construction once a week," Sam had said as they got ready for the school day. "My power's pretty straight forward: I can go invisible. At first I struggled to completely disappear but the school helped me with that, plus I can make my clothes disappear too. Right now I'm working on making other people or objects invisible too but I'm not having much success. There's thirty kids in my class, from different year groups too, so it's one of the biggest groups."

Gracie had then asked Allie about her power. "Well I'm a seventh child," she explained. "I have six sisters. But I guess I'm not really as powerful as people would expect me to be. I get a sense of the future, but not full on visions- my teacher's trying to help me develop that though. And I can walk through walls which is pretty cool, I'm trying to develop my power so that I can take other people through the walls with me. There's about twenty kids in my class and we only have classes twice a week."

There were three halls at the school, all of which were used for indoor PE lessons and Power Construction lessons. Not all of the PC classes were held there, some were held in ordinary classrooms; Gracie had a note on her timetable saying that her teacher would let her know where the next lesson would be held. But for today, it said she had to go to one of the halls.

Sam was heading in that direction so she showed Gracie the way before waving as she walked away. The lights were already on in the hall so Gracie timidly knocked on the door a few times before popping her head around the door. A female teacher was the only person in room and was sat down on a bench, taking her shoes and socks off. Gracie stepped into the room, the door shutting with a click behind her.

"Oh, hello," the teacher smiled as she stood up. Her slightly overweight body was covered in a brightly coloured maxi dress that flared out at the bottom and she had brown hair with streaks of natural grey in it that was just past her shoulders and frizzy, sticking out in every direction. She had a wrinkled face with kind brown eyes. Gracie estimated her to be in her late 40's or early 50's. "You must be Gracie Benedict. I'm Miss Wilson but I prefer for my students to call me Annie." She gestured to the bench. "Do you want to sit down and take your shoes and socks off please?"

"Okay," Gracie replied, heading over to the bench to do just that.

Just as she finished and tucked her Converse and socks under the bench like Annie had done with her own things, the door opened and a familiar strawberry-blonde haired figure entered. He looked over at Gracie with his eyes wide, seemingly taken aback to see her in here. "What's going on?" He asked Annie.

"You finally have a classmate, Killian. This is Gracie," Annie said with a smile. "Come on, you know the drill. Hurry up."

"Wait, there's only us two in the class?" Gracie asked as she stood up. She remembered the girls saying that nobody knew what Killian's power was, just that he was very dangerous and nobody was in his PC class because nobody else was as bad as him. Did this mean that the school classed Gracie just as dangerous as Killian? Was that a good thing, or a bad thing?

"Yes," Annie answered with a nod as Killian sat down on the bench. "Gracie, you and Killian both have advance powers for somebody of your age and you both struggle to control it. You have both seriously injured people in the past and to make sure that you are not a danger to the students at the school, you have to have these lessons four times a week and you will be closely monitored to make sure you don't use your power against another student. That is of course one of the school rules, but it is even more relevant to students like you two," she said not unkindly.

"But Annie loves us," Killian joked with a smirk on his face as he stood up, barefoot now. "She's got a soft spot for the troubled ones."

Annie rolled her eyes but didn't disagree with him. She started the lesson by telling them to run laps in the hall - thankfully there had been a note on her timetable saying to wear her PE kit so Gracie's outfit for the day was nice and sweat-free in her bag - and Killian nodded without argument.

"But what does that have to do with our power?" Gracie asked. She didn't mind running - in fact she rather enjoyed it - but she hadn't thought she'd be running in a Power Construction lesson.

"This is how we start off every lesson, Gracie," Killian answered, putting a hand on her back to gently lead her to the edge of the hall. "You'll get used to it."

"It's okay that you've asked," Annie said to Gracie as she sat back down on the bench. "You see Gracie, running is one of the best sports there is. Whilst running, you learn how to pace yourself, how to control your breathing and you learn what your body can and can't handle. Once you have control over your body, you'll find it easier to control your mind and therefore your power will be easier to control. Now, laps. Until I say stop. And remember: _control_."

Killian and Gracie set off in a light jog, staying side by side. They were silent for the first lap, but during the second Killian started off a conversation. "So I talked to Danielle," he said, looking sideways at her. "She wants to meet you before she says that you can definitely help out but she'll most likely approve of you anyway. It's just a precaution, you know? That is, if you still want to work there, it's okay if you don't." He sounded slightly self-conscious, as if he expected her to turn round and say she didn't want to.

"No, I still want to!" She was quick to reassure him, nodding her head. "Shall I just go there at dinner time, yeah?"

"Yeah," he nodded distractedly. "Gracie... I was just wondering... Have you uhm, heard any of the rumours about me?"

She took a moment to answer. "Yeah, my roommates have filled me in on the gossip."

"Yeah I thought you'd hear about it all somehow," he sighed. "Why are you still being nice to me if you know all that? Most people would have put up a fight if they got put in my class and wouldn't want to work with me and the animals. People usually avoid me at all costs and don't want to even look at me, never mind talk to me and hang out with me." He said it all matter-of-factly with no pity for himself in his voice, clearly used to being ignored or bullied by his fellow students.

"Look, I know that we don't know each other well at all but my parents sent me here for a fresh start," she replied honestly. "Back at my old school I had loads of friends but they weren't real friends, you know what I mean? I hate it here but my parents won't let me go home so I want to at least make some decent friends to make my time here better than it is now. I don't care about the rumours, I know they're probably just that: rumours. Not true. I don't care what other people think of us working together and having a class together. Screw 'em."

Killian laughed before quietly asking, "and if I told you the rumours about me _were_ true?"

Gracie smirked. "Well then I'd just have to remind you that my dad's a cop and knows how to use a gun. If you try anything, he won't hesitate to come after you." She laughed and picked up her pace, running ahead of Killian.

A moment later, he overtook her, flashing a grin over his shoulder. They ran the rest of the laps quickly and in a constant competitive race but ended up level with each other when Annie called out for them to stop; they were both happy to agree that it was a draw.

"Right then, well done," Annie said, clapping her hands together once. "Let's get started on a few control activities. Killian, you're up first. Gracie would like you to just sit down on the bench and watch please?"

Gracie sat down and Killian stood on a red line on the other side of the hall, facing Gracie. Annie moved to either side of the hall and on each side she rolled forward a large round target board a certain distance to each side of Killian. She then moved to stand behind Killian, leaning against the wall. "You know the drill, Killian. Off you go. Remember to breathe slowly and imagine your power as a ball of energy that only you can release. Control the power; don't let it control you."

For some reason Killian paled and his eyes widened. He spun around to look at Annie. "With Gracie sat right across from me? Are you insane?! Every time I've done this the blast has gone forwards and not sideways to the target. If that happens again, I could kill her!"

"There's some motivation for you," Annie said easily, a smile on her face. "Hit the target, or hurt Gracie. It's all down to you, Killian. I'm not going to change the task so you might as well get it over with."

He turned back around, looking terrified as he looked at Gracie with worry. It was obvious that he had no faith in his control of his own power and Gracie could relate to that. He must have a very powerful gift and she thought it was cruel of Annie to make him do something he really didn't want to. He looked away from her eyes and closed his before taking a deep breath.

And then the most extraordinary thing happened: Killian started to glow. A bright, silver light encased his body and when his eyes opened, the bright blue of his eyes was gone and replaced by the same silver glow that surrounded his body. He held his palms out in front of him, facing the ceiling. Then he turned them outwards to face them at Gracie; her body tensed up in fear as he did so, not knowing what to predict from his power.

"You're letting the power be in control," Annie chided loudly. "Fight it, Killian. Fight it or it will hurt Gracie, maybe even kill her."

"Excuse me?" Gracie squeaked.

Annie ignored her. "Take control, Killian," she said in a determined and focused voice.

Killian's arms started shaking as if he were having an inner battle with himself. He threw his arms out sideways just as a powerful lightening bolt flew from each of his hands and the glow in his eyes and around his body quickly disappeared. His bolts didn't hit the target and instead burned a hole into the walls nowhere near the targets (damage that could easily be repaired by one of the teachers who had a power for that sort of thing, her roommates had explained- apparently it was common for damage to be done to the school when it came to these lessons). Killian gasped loudly and slumped to the floor, rolling over onto his back.

Without realising what she was doing, Gracie rushed forwards and fell to her knees next to him, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that he hadn't passed out and just looked exhausted. "Are you okay?" She asked him.

"Yeah," he said weakly. "Horrible power, right? Lightening bolts. So stupid."

"I think it's pretty cool," she smiled down at him. "It's an element of nature, it kind of matches my power in a way."

"Well done Killian," Annie said with a smile as she knelt down on the other side of him. "I knew you just needed some motivation. Of course, we still have a lot to work on: your aiming for one," she started the list, "and your speed at preparing the bolts. If you were in a fight, you wouldn't have that long to prepare the power. Plus, we need to get you used to the power of the bolts so you're not as tired afterwards. _And_ we still need to get a hold of your anger so that the bolts don't explode from you when you're worked up. But for now, this is a great development Killian."

"Thanks," he grinned, looking better now that he'd had a moment to get his breath back. "Now what?"

Annie looked at Gracie as she replied. "Now it's Gracie's turn."


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, they really do mean so much to me. There's been a few people asking about Gracie's power which I'll talk about in this chapter obviously, although I first mentioned her powers in Safe & Sound ages ago (it's fine if you forgot or haven't read that story, haha). But just to clarify, ever since that first story in my series Gracie's power has been to control the four elements - fire, air, water and earth :) There's also a sneaky mention of Georgie's power which was also in Safe & Sound, haha. And there's also a mention of something that happened in S&S but nothing major; it'll go into more detail later on. Just thought I'd point that out.

Please keep on leaving reviews, I never expected for the story to get this much of a great reception. I planned for it to be just a side-story but it's actually one of my favourites that I've read and I love writing new chapters for it, haha.

Another little note: The animals that I describe in the barn are actually the animals in the barn at the farm I went to on my college course. I actually can't wait to go back in September :)

* * *

**14th January 2020**

Once all three of them were sat down on the bench with Gracie in the middle and Killian slowly sipping from a plastic water bottle. "I don't have an activity set up for you yet," Annie said to Gracie, "because I've only been told the basics about your power. I don't know what you need to improve on, what you can and can't do, so for now we just need to talk about your power. If I can think of something for you to do now and we have time, we'll do it. If not, I'll set up an activity for you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," Gracie nodded, agreeing that that made sense.

"Right, well I know that your power is to control the elements, but would you like to just explain details or problems you have? Is there a certain element that you're the strongest with?"

"Well I'm the strongest with air, for sure. I can even create so much wind that I can lift a person off the ground; my mum can control gravity so she can take away gravity to make somebody fly, and she thinks that if I could control my power better I could make someone fly and keep them safe with the wind I create. But I don't have enough control for that yet... When I get angry or even just really annoyed, I can do things with the air - most of the time it's creating a large gust of wind - and I've hurt people with it before. It started when I was nine and it's just gotten worse really, I even hurt my best friend Poppy a few months ago. I've known her since I was little and her sister's my aunt so we see each other a lot, but she doesn't even speak to me anymore. It just happens without me realising it until afterwards and even when I can feel my power stirring inside me, ready to hurt somebody, I can't stop it."

Annie had been listening thoughtfully, looking like she was taking mental notes on this. "Hmm, it seems like you and Killian are alike. You both need to learn anger management to be able have full control of your power. And you both become unable to control it in a situation where you're angry or annoyed, that's interesting. What about the other elements? Fire, water and earth. What are you like with them?"

Gracie thought about how to word her answer for a moment, aware that both Annie and Killian were looking at her, thinking of the right way to word what she could do. "I'm certainly not as strong with them as I am with air. If I want to use fire or earth, I have to really concentrate and sometimes it takes a few minutes; it tires me out easily to use them."

"And water?" Killian asked, clearly interested in her power. He had a look in his eyes that Gracie identified as awed curiosity- he admired her power and obviously wanted to know more.

Gracie shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to answer his question. She knew that she had to tell them of course but she didn't want to go into too much details. She hadn't talked about that day for years and years now, and even then she only talked about it before because her parents thought that a nine year old needed to talk about something like that. "I don't like to use the element of water," she admitted. "I uhm... Something happened when I was nine and since then, when I try and use water memories come rushing back and I stop myself from using that power. I've locked it away in my mind; I won't let myself use it anymore."

Annie's eyebrows lifted up and she said, "Gracie, to lock a part of your power away in your mind is very hard. If you managed to do that, that could mean you have a lot of control over water. If you started to use it again, your control over that part of your power would certainly help with the rest of the elements. Plus, a savant only has full control of their power if they're actually using all of it. I strongly suggest that you try to start working with the water element, just do a few tests to see if you really do have a firm hold on controlling it ."

Gracie turned on Annie, narrowing her eyes and glaring at her. "No," she snapped, anger bursting out of her at the thought of having to experience those memories again. She already had nightmares of parts of them every now and then, she didn't want to have to see them in full whilst she was awake. "I said no, I'm not going to work with that element ever again and you can't force me to. It's not happening!"

Annie didn't even seem taken aback at all that one of her students - one of her most dangerous students at that - was nearly shouting at her, snapping at her and showing that she was emotionally unstable. Gracie managed to hold it together most of the time, but the word _unstable_ was true: any little thing could make her snap and her reaction was unpredictable. Her entire family was used to having to walk on eggshells around her, always careful with what they said. Mind you, they were all similar - being unpredictable when it came to anger was a Benedict family trait - but none of them were as bad as Gracie.

"There's no need to talk to me like that," Annie said calmly whilst Gracie looked on at her in bewilderment. "What, are you shocked that you didn't get a bigger reaction out of me? Gracie, I teach Power Construction lessons all day every day, I am used to students getting frustrated and taking their anger out on me. And that's okay, I'd rather you take it out on me instead of another student where you could possibly end up hurting them if things go too far. Look I accept that you don't want to use the element of water but I am not going to drop the conversation. I still stand by what I just said, the advantages you might have if you start using it. I'm not going to push you into anything... But I'm not going to let you forget the advantages. Is that fair?" Gracie nodded her head in silence. "Good. The lesson's nearly finished," she added after looking at her watch. "Both of you go into the changing rooms and get dressed then head off to your next class. I'll have an activity ready for you tomorrow morning Gracie."

"Where will we be?" Killian asked her as he stood up.

"Back in this hall," she replied. "Don't be late."

* * *

They had quite a few animals in the barn: six fattening pigs and eight piglets, three kune kune pigs, three mircropigs, four goats, two donkeys, three alpacas and a small aviary for the owl in the corner of the barn. Right now, all of the animals apart from the owl were in enclosures outside so the barn was quiet. The smell was disgraceful and foul, especially coming from the pigs' enclosures, but Killian was used to that by now and Gracie hadn't seem bothered by it all after the first initial pang hit her.

Danielle had approved of Gracie - Killian had known that she would - and had leant Gracie a pair of wellies seeing as her own were back in her dorm room, before asking them both to clean out the donkeys enclosure and the kune kune pigs' enclosure which were right beside each other. Gracie was cleaning out the donkeys' and he was cleaning out the pigs'. They were working in silence but it wasn't awkward. Killian felt comfortable in her presence which was a strange thing for him that he hadn't felt since he was nine.

Thinking that made him remember about Gracie's protesting in class that morning. What had happened to her when she was nine? What a coincidence that she'd have a bad experience at the same age he did. He wanted to ask her what had affected her so much that she'd locked a part of her power away in her mind but worried about how she would react. Would she snap at him like she had at Annie? Somehow, he didn't think it was worth asking her. She was the first friend he'd had since he was young (although he didn't even remember any of the friends he had back then) and he didn't want to jeopardize that in any way. Was it too soon into the friendship to ask such personal questions? He decided not to risk it and forced himself to stop thinking about it.

"Gracie?" A voice came from the doorway. "What are you doing in here? We came looking for you after we ate dinner, somebody said they saw you here. We didn't even see you in the cafeteria."

Killian and Gracie both looked up at the same time to see Allie Parker and Sam Saresh stood in the doorway, their faces crumpled in disgust at the smell, and looked as if they didn't want to take even one step inside. "Oh yeah," Gracie shrugged, a casual tone to her voice as she replied to her friends. "I ate my dinner really quick so I could get here as soon as I could."

"Why?" Allie asked, looking at her as if she were crazy.

"I'm working here now," Gracie answered. "In the mornings, dinner time, and after school. It's a lot of work but I used to do it back in America too so I'm not bothered."

"But you know who that is," Allie said slowly, not even bothering to lower her voice even though she knew and could see that Killian was listening. "Are you like, friends with him now or something? He's dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt."

_Idiot_, Killian thought to himself with a mental eye roll. From what he could tell from his time at the school, Allie was actually a nice girl who cared a lot about her friends. But she was a little dim and naive in the way she believed gossip and rumours without even considering that they might not be true. She didn't mean to be spiteful, he could tell that, it was just that everybody else at the school was like that with him and she was just following their lead. He felt no hard feelings towards her for it.

"Gracie?" Sam prompted when Gracie still didn't reply.

Killian saw Gracie frown and a moment later the straw around her feet lifted into the air to the height of her ankles. It started whirling in circles around her ankles, getting faster and faster; it looked like a sort of tornado and she still just stood there as if she didn't even realise what was happening. The girls couldn't see it because of the wall in front of her but Killian was tall enough to see over the wall behind her that he saw it.

"_Stop it_," he said to her telepathically. His mind formed the link almost instantaneously; she was the first person other than his family that he had spoke to this way. It had been years since he'd spoken to anybody this way but it still felt natural and easy to him, much to his surprise. _"Gracie, stop using your power before it gets out of control and you end up hurting us. Stop. Now. Take control."_

And for some bizarre reason, she listened to him and stopped, letting the straw drop lifelessly to the ground again. Had her power started because she was angry? Probably. But why was she angry? He wondered to himself. Was she angry because Allie had been horrible towards Killian? Or was she angry because she hated the thought of them knowing she was friends with him? Normally he would think it was the latter but he didn't think Gracie was that type of person.

Despite this, he decided to answer for her. He screwed up his face in a grimace and scoffed. "What, you think I'd suddenly change my mind about not wanting any friends just because of some new girl? I don't think so. Gracie didn't want to work with me and I didn't want to work with her, but Danielle kind of forced it upon us."

"So you're not friends?" Allie asked, frowning a little.

"God no," he said as if the thought horrified him. "Especially if it means you two are going to tag along here every day. Shall I just quit my job now or...?"

"We only came to see where Gracie was," Sam snapped at him. "There's no need to be so rude, Killian. Gracie, I'm glad that you have something to remind you of home, that's great. I guess we'll see you in PE last lesson then, yeah?"

"Sure," Gracie nodded. She looked angry still and didn't return the smiles of her friends while they left. As soon as they were gone, she spun around to face Killian, furious. "What the damn hell was that?"

"That was me saving your ass," he shrugged.

"_What?!_" She looked confused. "I can speak for myself, you know. And I honestly do not care if they know we're friends, why should I? And how could you just let Allie speak about you like that? You should have said something to her, I was about to before you interrupted!"

Killian rolled his eyes, staying calm. "I'm used to people speaking about me like that, I don't care what Allie has to say. Gracie, think about it: you said that you wanted to enjoy your time here, yeah? Make some good friends? They wouldn't have been your friends anymore if you'd snapped at them, and you'd still have to share a room with them. It'd just be awkward and you wouldn't even feel welcome in your own bedroom. Plus, if you'd told them that you were friends with me and word got around the school about it... Nobody would like you because they don't like me. Another thing that wouldn't make you enjoy yourself here."

Her anger faded away as his explanation set in. He could tell that she knew he had a point. "So what?" She asked him in a normal, not angered voice, now. "I'm just supposed to be friends with you in private, and pretend I don't like you in front of everybody else? Won't that make you feel like shit?"

"Nah," he shook his head. "It's not going to change anything, I'll still be own and I'm okay with that. Don't feel bad about it. Besides, this could be fun. Sneaking around, putting up an act; doesn't that sound like something we could have a laugh with? And we'll still see each other all the time anyway, it's not going to make a difference."

"Are you sure about this?" She asked, looking uncomfortable.

"Absolutely," he grinned. It was the truth: although he would have loved to not be on his own during school and at the weekends when he wouldn't be working with her, he was fine with keeping things normal if it meant that people wouldn't treat Gracie like an outcast.

He'd barely even known her two days and he was already so protective of her. To be honest, he kind of liked it.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's note: So this is another chapter based on Power Construction lessons, sorry if it isn't what you expected. I just really needed to write this to be able to develop their relationship and move the story onwards. I promise the next one won't be about this class, ha :)

I was so worried this chapter was going to end up shorter than the others but thankfully it's about the same length, phew. I aim for at least 2000 words each chapter.

Thank you so much for the reviews, please keep leaving them if you still like this story! Or even if you don't, constructive criticism is always welcome :) xx

* * *

**15th January 2020**

After spending the morning feeding all of the animals and then grooming his favourite horse - a black stallion called Maximillian - whilst Gracie groomed Ruby (the horse was being lovely to her but had tried to bite Killian when he walked over there), Killian headed to his Power Construction lesson. Even though he and Gracie were leaving the same place to go to the same place, they didn't walk together for obvious reasons.

However, they reached the hall at the same time and Killian held the door open for her, gesturing for her to go in first before following behind. "What the-" He started as he looked around the hall. There was a tall glass tank of water at one side of the room, three large plant pots in the middle of the room and a mannequin covered in newspaper with a fire extinguisher to the left of it. Annie walked into the hall from the girls changing rooms and smiled at them. "What's all this?" Killian asked her. "Where the hell did you get a tank of water from?"

"I have connections," she shrugged. "You can go ahead and just sit down Killian, this lesson's all about Gracie."

"But don't you have to teach both of us?" Gracie asked, moving to the bench to take off her shoes and socks. "That's not really fair, is it?" Killian noticed that her hands were shaking as she put her shoes and socks under the bench. She was nervous and he didn't blame her- these lessons were hard no matter how many of them you had, they pushed and challenged you, and he would have been surprised if she wasn't nervous.

"You're right," Annie agreed. "But I need to be able to see all elements you control - apart from water for the time being, of course - so I know for certain what we're dealing with here. Tomorrow I'll focus on both of you. Okay, so the first activity is quite simple. In those plant pots, there is soil and flower seeds. Make the flowers grow using the earth element, Gracie. I suggest that the best way to do it is how I tell Killian to control his power: imagine the power as a ball that you control, move the ball through your body and out of your fingertips into the soil. You control the power, it doesn't control you, you just need to have belief in your control of it."

Killian sat on the bench and watched intently as Gracie knelt down next to the first plant pot. She gently touched the soil with the fingertips of her right hand and left it there for a moment, her eyes narrowed in concentration and her mouth a flat line. The plant pot started to shake, a lump forming in the soil before a stem exploded from it, reaching upwards. A flower started to grow, pink and blooming... Before it quickly shriveled up, dying within in an instant and drooping forwards as the petals turned a dirty grey colour.

Looking disappointed and frustrated, Gracie moved her hand and sat back on her heels, looking up at Annie expectantly. "What do you think you did wrong?" Annie asked. "Think carefully."

"I was overthinking it," Gracie answered straight away. "I put too much power into it."

"Exactly!" Annie exclaimed, nodding enthusiastically. "Like I keep saying to both of you: _you_ are in control, not the power. Gracie, I think you just put too much power into it because you don't believe in yourself that you can control it. You don't know your own strength. So, now that you know where you went wrong, try again on the second plant pot and see if you do better that time. Don't overthink it."

"Okay." Gracie moved over to the second plant pot and again placed her fingertips on the soil. Killian immediately saw a difference in her compared to the first time: she tilted her head to the side as if she was listening to either the soil or her power and she didn't look like she was concentrating as much. She took a deep breath before smiling at the soil. Slowly, a light green stem grew from the soil with a rosebud on the top. One by one, the pink rose petals uncurled out of the bud. It was a beautiful sight and even Killian, who didn't really appreciate or bother with flowers, was awed by the beauty. Silently, Gracie moved on to the third plant pot and did the exact same thing to that one, neither one of the flowers dying like the first one had and both blooming to their full potential.

Annie praised Gracie as she stood up, saying that they could possibly start working on bigger things with that element next. "You controlled the power there," she added. "That doesn't mean you have full control of the earth element, I don't think it's going to be that easy. But it's a start at controlling it, you've learnt how to hold back and not push it too much. Okay, the mannequin is obviously for you to work on fire. To burn it. But that's for last of all. Next is the water tank." Gracie's eyes widened, clearly already panicking. "Don't worry, it's not for the water element. It's actually for the air element."

"How?"

"Well I've had a few students that could control air over the years, and they were all able to use air to breathe underwater. In this activity you will climb into the tank of water and whilst under the water, try and bring air into a sort of bubble around you so that you can breathe under the water. It's completely safe, there's no lid or anything like that. It's just like a swimming pool in a way. Are you okay with doing that?"

"I guess," Gracie said slowly, nodding her head. "Bring it on."

Killian stood up and walked over to stand next to Annie as Gracie climbed the wooden stairs that were attached to the tank- stairs were safer than ladders in case of emergencies, Annie explained to them both. He was worried about her, even though it was a simple task. Something inside of him was screaming at him to stop this from happening, that she wouldn't be able to handle it. He didn't understand that feeling so he kept quiet, his eyes focused on her and his body ready to help or rescue her at the smallest sign she would need him.

Gracie slowly lowered herself into the tank, letting the water submerge her. Her hair fanned out around her head and she looked at them through the glass, her grey eyes wide and her cheeks puffed out as she held her breath. The water started to swirl around her and she looked up, holding her hand out upwards as if she was reaching for the air.

She had said that air was her strongest element and she proved it now. The plant pot activity had taught her how to control her powers - even if it was only for the duration of this task - and she was clearly remembering how she did that.

Gracie waved her hand in a gentle circle as if controlling something invisible - which, Killian thought whilst he observed, was no doubt the air and she could somehow see it - and then her arm made a motion as if it were pulling something into the water. The water then began to move around Gracie as if were making way for something and before Killian could even blink, Gracie was somehow encased in the tank in a bubble of air with the water around the bubble, not touching her. She'd made it look so easy, he thought to himself.

Gracie smiled at them through the glass and exclaimed, "I did it! I can't believe it. The air actually listened to what I wanted it to do for once, that was amazing."

"Well done Gracie," Killian said with a proud smile on his face. Gracie grinned at him before looking up in alarm. "What's wrong?" He asked in a panic.

Gracie opened her mouth to reply but didn't have a chance to speak as the bubble of air around her popped and the water flooded down at her. In her shock, she swallowed some of it and threw her arms out around her as if she was trying to swim up to the top of the tank. But something was happening with the water: it was pressing down on her as if the water and Gracie were both magnets attracted to each other and had no choice but to stick together.

"Get her out of there," Annie said quickly, trained in what to do in emergencies like this. "I'll go and get towels from the changing rooms to wrap her up in, she'll need the warmth. Don't just stand there! Move, Killian!"

Killian jumped out of his frozen state and rushed towards the stairs. He looked through the glass and saw Gracie's eyes closed as her head fell forward against her chest and her body went limp. He quickly moved up the steps and let his body fall into the tall, slim tank. It was a tight squeeze with both of them in but he didn't mind about that. He wrapped his arms around her waist and struggled against the heavy water to pull her out. As their heads went over the surface of the water, he gasped to pull in a breath and felt the water give up, losing its power. He looked at Gracie's pale face in front of him and in a trembling voice said, "oh god," when he realised she was still unconscious.

Wrapping one arm around her waist and the other around the back of her knees so that he was carrying her bridal-style and cradling her against his chest, he stepped onto the platform and walked down the steps, being careful not to slip. Heaven forbid he _did_ slip and hurt both of them even more.

He quickly lowered Gracie to the floor as soon as he could and looked around for Annie but didn't see her. How long did it take to get towels?! Annie was a healer, she'd be able to help Gracie. He looked down at Gracie worriedly and realised that he was going to have to act quick if he wanted to help her. He didn't have time to wait for Annie. He only knew the basics about first aid and he hoped it was enough. He leaned down and placed his cheek near her mouth and nose; his hands started shaking when he didn't feel any air on her cheek, nor could he feel a pulse when he grabbed hold of her wrist. He placed his hands on her chest and started doing compressions, not knowing whether or not his hands were even in the right place or if he was pressing down too hard. He simply prayed that he was doing it correctly. "Come on Gracie," he mumbled. "Wake up! Don't do this to me, wake up."

After a bit, he tilted her head back and lifted up her chin before pinching her nose and leaning down. He took a deep breath before pressing his lips against hers and blew two one-second breaths into her mouth. He straightened up and started chest compressions again as Annie finally came back into the room. "What the hell happened?" He blurted out. "It was like the water had a mind of its own!"

Annie knelt down on the other side of Gracie before replying. "I've had enough experience to answer that. She's had her water element locked away for so long that it took the opportunity to come out when she wasn't paying attention. It's out of control, that's why it was holding her down so much. God, this is just proof that she needs to start using it and learning how to control it. Next time it could be worse. Breathe into her mouth again."

Killian did as she said and started to straighten up again just as Gracie's body flinched and she turned towards Annie just as she threw up the water she had swallowed. Annie moved out of the way just in time and passed a white towel over to Killian. He wrapped it around Gracie's shoulders as she stopped spewing water and she turned to him, burying her face in his chest and one of her hands clinging to his shirt. Her body was shaking and shivering, freezing cold; Killian was shaking just as much as she was, but from emotion instead of the cold. He wrapped his arms around her and gently kissed the top of her head, so relieved that she was okay now, and held her tightly to him.

Annie gave them a moment alone holding onto each on the floor before she silently placed a hand on Gracie's back, using her power to assess her health. "You'll be okay Gracie," she said softly. "This is my fault, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you to do such a difficult task so soon, I promise it won't happen again. Tell you what, I'll pop into the office and tell them I'm excusing you both from classes for the rest of the day. You can rest Gracie, and I trust Killian to look after you. Okay? Head back to the dorms or something, I'll write you a note for the hall monitors." She rose to her feet and headed into the small office attached to the hall for herself, other PC teachers, and sports teachers.

"Thank you for saving me," Gracie said into Killian's chest, still holding onto him.

He smiled. "Couldn't just let you drown, now could I? As soon as you're ready to move, let's go to my dorm room. There's something I want to show you."


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: So today I randomly received a ton of anonymous reviews for the last chapter which took me by surprise. Not that I didn't enjoy getting the praise, of course. Thank you! If for some reason they were all wrote by the same person (which is possible considering they were all sent minutes apart- although I don't understand why somebody would do that) I'm not going to complain or anything like that; it's actually nice to know that you liked the story so much you took the time to review like that. And if they were all by different people, I would love to know where you lovely lot came from! Haha.

I posted this on my other story too but: I have now decided to be a Betareader and I'm currently accepting requests. So check out my Beta page if you feel like you might want/need a Beta or message me and I'll check out your story, see if I want to help you out :) (Shamelessly self-promoting myself, haha)

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**15th January 2020**

Killian and Gracie went into the separate changing rooms to dry off and change into the clothes they'd brought in a bag (Gracie finally realised why they had to wear their PE kits for the class) before he led her over to the boys dorm building. Killian's bedroom was on the top floor and he opened the door, gesturing for her to go in first in a gentlemanly manner. Gracie smiled thankfully up at him as she stepped past him and into his bedroom, looking around the room in curiosity.

There was only one bed in the room (an indication that he didn't have a roommate), a double with a white duvet that had real splotches of paint on it. Canvases small and medium and large were hung up on the wall, laid on the floor, leaning against the wall- basically covering every spare inch of the room. There were two canvas stands, one of which had a blank canvas and one that had a painting of a girl on it. Gracie moved closer to the second one and saw that it was painting of a girl that looked just like her, expect it was prettier than she saw herself. It was from the first time she had met Killian in the stables, when her hair was plastered to her face from the rain and she was shocked to see him stood there. In the painting her grey eyes were large and stunned; there was a look in them that made her look so heartbreakingly sad yet she still looked beautiful. The painting was amazing. Every strand of her hair looked wet and stuck to her face, the clothes she was wearing clinging to her figure. It looked so much like her, yet at the same time looked too stunning to be her.

"What do you think?" She heard Killian ask quietly after closing the door behind him. "It's you, obviously."

"I think it's brilliant," she replied instantly and honestly. "Did you do it?"

"Yes."

"I love it," she turned around to smile at him. "I just think there's one problem with it: I'm not that pretty."

"I paint things exactly how I see them," he shrugged as if he didn't think that his words would cause butterflies to flutter around in Gracie's stomach. Which they did, just for the record. "I've been working on that painting since I met you, I couldn't really focus on any other ones that I started," his cheeks blushed a rosy pink colour. "I wasn't really planning on ever showing you it but I'm glad that you like it."

Gracie looked around the room at the rest of the paintings, most of them being landscapes with the odd few of random people. "You're an amazing artist," she said. It was the truth too. Every single painting that she could see of his was detailed and looked so realistic. She admired Killian for his clear talent. "So is this what you wanted to show me? All of your paintings?"

"In a way, yes," he nodded. "But not because I wanted to brag about them. I just wanted to show you what I do, other than help with the animals, to just you know, release myself from the world. When I paint and get into 'the zone' I forget about all my troubles and worries. It's relaxing, you know? And I think you need something like that too. I've learned to try and remember how relaxed painting makes me when I can feel my power start to go out of control, and after what happened earlier it's obvious that you need something to think about to calm you down too. I'm not saying that you should take up painting because it's not for everybody. I'm just saying that I think you need to find your equivalent of what painting is for me."

Gracie raised her eyebrows as she looked at him in a sort of shocked state. "Excuse me? Is this your way of telling me that my power is out of control? It's sweet that you're trying to help Killian but don't you think I've tried to find something that calms me down? No matter what I do, what I think about, once my power's exploding and causing trouble there's nothing I can do about it. I can't control it. That's why my parents sent me here."

"I understand that," he said, sounding exasperated. "But you really do need something that'll balance you- these lessons can only help you so much, believe me I know. You need balance, Gracie. It's a shame that you haven't found your soulfinder, apparently just thinking about your soulfinder can calm and balance you. Not that I would know anything about that, of course. I'm just trying to help you Gracie, not start an argument."

"Well you're not helping," she snapped defensively. "You're just telling me things that I already know! I don't need to hear them again." She sighed and shook her head before looking back up at him. "I'm sorry, it's not your fault. I shouldn't be getting angry at you. It's just that... It's been like this for me for a long time now and I know I need to find something that will help calm me when I'm using my powers. I know that I need balance, preferably my soulfinder. But as much as I've tried, I can't find that. I honestly wish I could, I hate feeling like I can never truly let myself go because my powers might get out of control."

Killian smiled sadly at her as if he didn't like hearing her sound so upset. "Sounds to me like you have a lot bottled up in your mind about how your power got the better of you," he said. "Have you ever talked to anybody about it?" Gracie shook her head. "You can talk to me about it. It's not like I'm going to go spreading it around the school. I really think you need to tell somebody about it all, just to get it out of your system."

"Huh." She moved to sit cross-legged in the centre of his bed and Killian joined her, sitting across from her and close enough that their knees were touching. "I guess you're right, I do need to talk to someone. It's kind of a long story though."

"We have all day," he smiled at her. "Annie said that she'd tell Danielle that we won't be helping out today, so we have nowhere else to be. So, off you go. Spill."

Gracie hesitated for a moment to think through her answer and the best place to start. "Well I guess it all started before I was even born, really. When my mum was young, her mother Laurel decided that she didn't want her anymore so she left. She faked her own death so that she could start a new life without any ties to her old one. My grandad brought mum up on his own and a year later Laurel turned up again. Said that she'd changed her mind and she wanted to be a good mother. Grandad didn't believe her and thought she wanted to hurt mum or take her away from him, so he took mum and moved away. To hide from Laurel.

"My parents met at school when they were six years old. They realized they were soulfinders soon after and started dating when they were older. When they were sixteen, grandad decided it was time to move on and he forced my mum to leave. She was pregnant with me at the time but didn't know it until later so my dad didn't know I even existed.

"When I was nine grandad went missing and my mum freaked out and took me to Wrickenridge, where my dad lived. Mum and I were in a car accident and she went into a coma for a little while and I stayed with my dad.

"Things seemed great for a while, they really did. I had both my parents, grandparents, a bunch of uncles. I was so happy. But then Laurel had some guys that worked for her kidnap me. They kept me in a basement with my grandad; it was a plot to lure my mum in. Laurel wanted some information from my grandad and she used me to try and blackmail him into telling."

"Did she have somebody hurt you, Gracie?" Killian asked softly, taking hold of her hands in his own in a way that made her feel comforted and supported.

Gracie nodded her head. "Yeah, Yeah, she did. You're the only person I've told about this- I never told my parents because I knew it would hurt them and my mum was already so upset, I couldn't stand to see her blame herself for me being hurt.

"Laurel knew this guy called Hanson who could manipulate people's powers. He would make me use the water element to drown people's lungs- I would force a ton of water into their throats and make the water fill up in their lungs. It was horrible having to hurt people like that, I still remember feeling the terror they felt and seeing them try and scream in pain. Hanson always had me stop just before they died so I never killed anybody... But I was still torturing them for reasons I didn't even know about.

"They were trying to get grandad to tell Laurel about the information but seeing me get upset over torturing people wasn't enough to break him. Plus, I kept telling him not to say anything because it must have been pretty serious if he was keeping it a secret from her.

"Laurel told Hanson not to hurt me because then my mum would never help her. But Hanson got angry that grandad still wasn't saying anything so one day when Laurel wasn't there, Hanson made me get into a bathtub full of water and manipulated my power to make the water hold me in the tub. Kind of like this morning when the water was fighting against me. He kept it up for hours, letting me come out of the water to breathe just before I passed out and then making me go under again."

"He tortured you?" Killian sounded - and looked - horrified, his deep blue eyes wide and unblinking. "Gracie I'm so sorry.."

"It's the past, there's nothing you can do to change that," she shrugged, trying to look casual but knowing that she failed. "At least it was just that one day... When my parents eventually found me, there was a big confrontation. I saw my grandad get killed and my mum lose it and nearly kill her mother. She stopped though and I'm glad about that because she's not a killer. She never could be, that's not her."

"You sound really close to your mum," Killian pointed out.

"I am. She's my best friend," Gracie smiled. "For the first nine years of my life it was just her, me and grandad. I didn't go to school or even go out much so they were my only friends really. After grandad was killed, mum asked me to trap Laurel and the people who worked for her in ice. I had to use my water element for it and I hated it; it made me feel sick. That's when I forced myself to stop using that element and I locked it away in my mind."

Killian was silent for a moment, seemingly delving into his own thoughts. "In our first lesson with Annie you said that you first started to lose control of your powers when you were nine. Was that after this Hanson guy tortured you with your own power?"

"Yeah, actually it was," Gracie said slowly. "Do you think my powers went out of control because I locked the water element away into my mind? I can't believe I never thought of that."

"It would make sense," he replied, nodding his head. "And I honestly think that Annie's right: you'd be able to control all the elements better if you didn't lock water away in your mind. I understand why you don't want to use it, why you're scared of using it. But I'll be there to support you and this can only be better in the long run."

"Hmm... I don't know, I guess maybe I can think about it," she sighed. Deep down Gracie knew that Annie and Killian both had a good point but she was just so scared of using that power that at that moment she couldn't even consider saying that she'd definitely start using the water element again. Right now she didn't want to talk about it. She'd imagined telling somebody the truth about her kidnapping and breaking down into tears, but Killian was such a calming presence that she still felt strong. She was glad that he was the first person she'd opened up to and it really did feel good to finally get everything out in the open and not keep it a secret from everybody.

Sensing that she needed a change of subject Killian asked, "hey, did you ever find out what secret your grandad was keeping?"

Gracie nodded. "Yes. It was about my Aunt Persephone. But that's a whole other story," she smiled and squeezed his hands once before letting go. "Anyway. Can I see some more of your paintings please?"

"Sure," he returned the smile. "There's one of Ruby that I really think you'd like. I don't like the horse but she has the perfect colouring to paint. Come on then, I'll show you my paintings and then we can try and figure out what else to do for the rest of the day."

"Sounds good."

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Author's note: Not much going on in that chapter other than Gracie's back story which was in Safe & Sound, but it was obviously a relevant chapter and I hope you all liked it still.

**A hint about the next chapter:** We'll be fast forwarding a few weeks :)


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: I really didn't want to have two chapters full of backstory one after the other, I wanted to space them out, but for the story to develop the way I want it to, Gracie needed to know about Killian's background so this was the only suitable place for this chapter. Sorry if it kind of bores you; it will get more exciting soon, I promise. Please leave reviews to let me know what you think.

Reviews make me happy and a happy Charlotte means quicker updates so... ;)

Also, I have started a new story. It's called A Life Of Love And Loss. It's about Gracie's cousin Ariadne (Victor's daughter). Check it out and leave reviews there if you have the time :)

**A hint about the next chapter:** Gracie finds out something strange about the school.

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**9th February 2020**

On Sunday morning Gracie stumbled out of bed at about 9 in the morning and looked over to see that both Sam and Allie were still asleep. She was used to waking up earlier than them due to the fact she helped out with the animals so this was no surprise to her. Danielle allowed Killian and Gracie to have Sunday off work but even then Gracie found that she was unable to sleep in even on that day- something that was weird to her considering at home she'd always loved to sleep in and could have slept all afternoon.

Sat on the edge of her bed, her eyes drifted to the oversized card that she had pinned up on the wall right near her bed. On the front was a photograph of Gracie with her parents, sister and brother with the words "We miss you" above it; on the inside her entire family had signed the card – parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents – with some writing a little message for her. It had arrived in the post along with £100 and she had spent the money on a shopping trip with Sam and Allie, using every pound of it to buy a bunch of new clothes that were much more suitable for English weather than the ones she'd brought with her.

Next to the card she had hung up Killian's painting of Ruby the horse. He'd painted her running in the field, looking majestic and beautiful. Her scruffy dark mane (which stayed scruffy despite the fact Gracie regularly groomed her) and her grey fur with black spots were realistically detailed. Gracie had fallen in love with it as soon as Killian had shown her it so he'd let her keep it. She'd told the girls that she'd bought it in on a trip into the town one weekend and they'd believed her.

Gracie had been at the school for almost a month now and she was actually enjoying herself- mainly because of Killian Ashe whom had become her best friend even if their friendship was still a secret. She was doing well in all of her lessons and she had already got a tighter grip on her powers which meant there had been no 'incidents' where she lost control and ended up hurting somebody. She still refused to work with the water element despite what had happened in the tank but neither Annie nor Killian were pressuring her at all.

Still though, she was homesick and wished she could go home and be with her family again. She missed them all more than she thought was possible. She spoke to her mother and father on the phone and occasionally Skype and almost always ended up in tears afterwards. But they still wouldn't let her go home.

Gracie rose to her feet and began to get changed, dressing in plain black leggings and a purple hoodie. She pulled on some thick socks and then her wellies; she'd bought the neon green wellies so that she wouldn't have to keep on borrowing Danielle's spare pair which were a size too big for her. Unsurprisingly, when she looked out of the window she saw that it was a dreary day. Fog shrouded the air and the sun was hidden. With a sigh she pulled on a black beanie hat over her hair and left the bedroom.

Yesterday evening, just before they'd gone their separate ways after feeding all the animals, Killian had asked her to meet him in the stables this morning. It was a place they knew they could go to be alone without being interrupted or seen together.

Killian was already there when she arrived, sitting on the floor and leaning against the gate of Maximillian's enclosure. "Good morning," Gracie called out to him in a cheery, sing-song voice. In the past few weeks she had slowly come out of her shell and was a lot more happier now, especially when she was around him. She walked over and sat down next to him, not worried about getting her clothes dirty. "So guess what my parents told me on Skype last night? My mum's pregnant again. I mean my parents are only 33 so it's not _that_ bad but Willow is only 2, they could have waited a few more years. At least I'll be home by the time the baby is born."

"Congratulations," he said quietly, his lips turning up at the corner a little. It wasn't a full smile and that's what gave Gracie the knowledge that something was wrong with him- Killian was nearly always smiling when they were around each other, always happy and without a care in the world.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked him. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know," he nodded his head and met her eyes. "That's why I asked you to meet me here. So I could talk to you. Gracie, what rumours have you heard about me? About my family?"

Gracie frowned, wondering where this was going to lead the conversation. Was he going to tell her his backstory like she had told him hers a few weeks ago? She thought back to the conversation she'd had with Allie about Killian the day she met him as well as what a few other students had said before answering truthfully in a soft voice. "I heard that you're an orphan because your family died. You had a few foster families but they all ended up hurt somehow so you were put into a care home where they couldn't handle you and your strength. I heard that the last straw was when you killed somebody back in Ireland and the net sent you here as a result. And Allie told me that you beat up a guy called Noel at school for no reason and he ended up in hospital; that has nothing to do with your family I know that, but I just can't imagine you doing that to somebody."

Killian sighed. "I did beat up Noel and he did have to go to hospital because of me. But it wasn't just for no reason at all. His dad worked for the net but he turned against them. He told Noel some classified information about me illegally and Noel was taunting me about it. I just snapped, he was lucky I didn't end up using my power on him. I taught him a lesson though, he never told anyone else what he knew. He's left school now and there's rumours that he's up to some pretty shady stuff with his dad and some rogue savants but nobody knows for sure. I didn't mean to hurt him so badly but I don't regret it because at least it stopped him from telling everyone what he knew about me."

"And just what was this classified information he knew about you?"

Killian took a deep breath and looked away from Gracie as if he couldn't look her in the eyes whilst he answered. "He found out the truth. That I really did kill somebody."

"What?" Gracie gasped with an involuntary flinch away from him.

Killian looked at her again with a scared expression on his face. "Gracie please give me a chance to explain, don't hate me or be scared of me. I couldn't bear that. Please, I'm not like other killers out there. Please." He looked so vulnerable, a side of him that Gracie had never seen before, that she was taken aback and found herself inching closer to him again.

"Okay," she said. "Everybody deserves a chance to explain themselves in my opinion. Go ahead, tell me everything."

Killian nodded, looking at her gratefully before composing himself so that he could speak without his emotions getting the best of him. "I'm not an orphan. Or rather, I'd like to think I'm not an orphan. I had a family: parents, three sisters and three brothers. I'm a seventh child, my siblings were all older than me: Caoimhe and Colleen were twins and would be 26 now; Aedan would be 24; Cara would be 20; Finbar and Lochlan would be 18."

"You're talking about them in the past tense," Gracie pointed out. "What happened to them?"

"Nobody knows," Killian replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Seven years ago when I was 9 years old, my parents never came to pick me up from school. I went to a grammar school whereas none of my siblings did so my parents would pick them up first and then come to pick me up. But nobody turned up so I decided to walk home. I was angry obviously, wondering if they'd just forgot about me. All of my siblings still lived at home, even the older older ones, so I prepared myself to have a go at whoever was home. But when I got home nobody was there.

"All of their things were still there but none of my family ever came home. Some people said that they'd took off in an emergency, left all their belongings and me behind. Others that knew my family said they would never do that to me, that my parents would never leave behind a child no matter what. I wanted to believe the second group of people but now I'm not so sure what happened to them. Like I said, all their things were still at home but the police never found anything to suspect that somebody had hurt my family in some way. They kind of gave up after a few months of no leads."

"What happened to you?"

"My mum's friend Bronagh fostered me and took me in. She had a son called Finnegan that I was good friends with so I was happy there even if I did miss my family and wonder what happened to them. Anyway, about six months after I started living with them, my power started getting more powerful. Before I could only create small sparks, nothing capable of hurting people. But when it started to change, that was when I found I was able to create full on lightening bolts. The social services part of the savant net had been keeping an eye on me and they noticed my power developing. They told Bronagh what I was seeing as she didn't know about savants and what was going on with me.

"I expected her to freak out and kick me out but she didn't. She was really supportive actually and she tried to help me come up with techniques to stay calm whenever I got angry. She was like a mum to me and I was so grateful that she was helping me out so much.

"Things changed when I was about 11 and Finnegan and I started high school. He got in with the wrong crowd and started bullying me, at school and at home. He took it too far one evening and brought my family into it. I got so angry that I couldn't even see straight and before I knew it I was throwing a bolt at him. It missed though, but it startled him and made him jump and he fell down the stairs. He was okay, just a broken arm but... Bronagh decided that I was too dangerous to live with them, she didn't want her son getting hurt again.

"I don't blame her for putting me in a care home. She didn't know what else to do and I could tell that it hurt her to put me there. She even visited me regularly, she was a lovely woman."

"What was the care home like?" Gracie asked quietly.

"At first it wasn't as bad as I expected," he replied. "The workers there were nice people and the children were mostly younger than me, really sweet kids that welcomed me. But there was one boy who was 16, a lot bigger than I was. I was only a skinny little thing back then. He was called Derry and he was a bully basically. He'd tease all the younger kids and push them around, but only when the adults weren't there. Around the adults he acted like a sweetheart. I'd been there for about a month when these two girls moved in and ended up being given Derry's bedroom. So he had to move into my room. Neither one of us was thrilled about that.

"He tried to push me around and blackmail me into doing everything for him but he had nothing to hold against me. He wanted power, he wanted to be the strong one... And he came to the conclusion that there was only one way for him to get power over me." Gracie saw the shining of tears in Killian's eyes as he continued. "He couldn't beat me up because that would leave bruises and the adults would see. So he... One night he got into my bed and put his hand over my mouth. I tried to fight him but like I said, he was a lot bigger than me and I didn't stand a chance against him. He... He raped me."

Gracie gasped, tears springing to her eyes too in absolute horror. The thought of somebody hurting a young Killian like that was just disgraceful and a wave of sadness came over her. She reached out one arm to wrap it around his shoulders and moved the other hand to rest on top of his hands in his lap. "Oh Killian," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"I don't need your pity," he said flatly.

"But you have it anyway," she responded sternly. "Killian, to go through something like that and still manage to be strong and still manage to smile every day... You are so amazingly strong. I can tell that since then you haven't really had anybody care about you and that sucks. But I'm here now and I care about you, and there's nothing you can do to stop me from hurting over the fact somebody did that to you. Okay?"

Killian met her eyes as he silently cried and nodded slowly. "Okay," he managed to say through his tears. "Okay. Thank you, Gracie." He took a deep breath to get a grip on his emotions enough that he could continue with the rest of his story. "I was too scared and embarrassed to tell anybody what he did to me. It was the perfect way for him to control me and be in charge. He continued to abuse me, telling me that I deserved it and even though it made him want to be sick he was going to punish me.

"Two years ago, after having suffered from his abuse for three years, I decided that enough was enough. The care home looked after children until they were eighteen but he'd regularly come back and help out. He was there so often that he could still continue with the abuse. I started to fight back and he didn't like it. It all came down to one confrontation in the end: he grabbed a knife and threatened to stab me if I didn't hold still and let him rape me again," his voice was bitter and cold. "But I didn't fall for his blackmail again. I fought back and he tried to stab me. But I managed to get the knife out of his hands and... He tried to get away but I grabbed hold of him and pulled him back towards me and I stabbed him. Three times. Until he stopped struggling and I knew he was dead. I killed him, Gracie."

"Good!" She exclaimed angrily. "He deserved it, Killian! He wasn't going to ever stop hurting you, you wouldn't have ever been able to have a life of your own. I would have done the exact same thing if I were in your position."

"Stop. Just stop," he said quietly, shaking his head. "Gracie, I hate that I killed him. Even if he did deserve it. That will always be on my permanent record, I'll never be able to get away from it. Derry is a constant presence in my nightmares as well as all the memories of what he did to me. The net managed to get me a lawyer that deals with cases involving savants-"

"Savant lawyers," Gracie said in acknowledgement. "Yeah, my aunt Hazel's one of them. She's one of the best. Your lawyer must have done something right seeing as you're not in jail."

"Yeah, court and law punishments are different for savants. They have a different way of doing things. My lawyer managed to pass it off as self-defence and said that my power had taken control of me and I had lost my mind. The whole thing with Finnegan was proof that I had a power difficult to control. So they didn't send me to jail for it. Instead they sent me here, saying that I legally had to stay here for a year otherwise I would go to jail. I've been here two years now though, simply because I have nowhere else to go. I have no family to go home to in the holidays; this is my only home now."

Gracie didn't say anything for a long minute. The truth was that she just didn't know what to say to him. Finally she said, "I'm really glad that you feel you can trust me with all of this enough to tell me. I'm just wondering why you randomly decided to?"

"It wasn't a random decision," he replied with a shake of the head. "After you told me all your secrets I started to think about opening up to you in return. And well, today... Today marks the anniversary of the day I got home to find my family gone. I always remember the date, it's not something that you can easily forget."

"Well I understand that. 13Th December 2012: the day my grandad died. I really am sorry all of that happened to you, Killian."

He smiled weakly. "It's okay. Things are getting better now and I don't dwell on the past all of the time. Like you said earlier, I still manage to smile every day. I guess I just felt like I finally needed to tell somebody what happened. To tell somebody the truth about the rumours. And I trust you not to tell anybody else... You know, I'm really glad I met you Gracie Benedict."

"I'm really glad I met you too," she smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's note:

Just replies to a few reviews-

_Guest reviewer_: How do you know they're soulfinders? ;) No I understand where you're coming from, that you want them to find out and be all happy. I'm sorry if it feels like I'm dragging this out. But trust me, it's all for a reason- I have the moment they'll find out planned in my mind and it'll be worth the wait.

_Looksatbooks_: Exactly. I'd had this idea of giving Killian a tough background like that ever since I started planning out the story but I was still undecided whether or not to write it. I didn't want it to be cliché, nor did I want to write it in a way that would portray what he went through incorrectly. So I did think about other possibilities but in the end decided to go with my original idea because it does happen; it was a tough subject to write about but I'm glad you think it turned out well :)

Please read and review this chapter. xo

* * *

**16th February 2020**

One of the school rules was to not go wandering around the school in the middle of the night. But some rules were made to be broken, right? Gracie had been tossing and turning in her bed, able to hear Allie softly snoring and Sam murmuring words in Indian in her sleep, but hadn't been able to fall asleep herself at all. There were too many thoughts whirring around in her mind, thoughts that weren't even important enough to remember but had still been bothering her. It was ridiculous, it really was.

Deciding that going on a walk may be just the thing to tire her out enough that she'd be able to sleep, she got out of bed and put on her green fluffy slippers before quietly slipping out of the room. She would have to be extra careful not to get caught by whichever teachers were on hall monitor duty tonight. If she was caught she would get a detention which would mean she'd have to waste time that she would normally be spending with Killian working with the animals. The fact that they couldn't hang out like normal friends during the weekend or even sit together in the classes they shared, made their time together even more precious. She didn't want to have that taken away from her. Just don't get caught, she thought to herself as she crept along the corridor and past the other bedrooms before slowly making her way down the first flight of stairs.

Maybe going outside for some fresh air would make her feel better, she thought. It was worth a try anyway. The school building was an old one so the stairs tended to creak loudly in certain places. Thankfully, she knew her way around enough now to know which places creaked so she managed to move silently. It took her an age to descend the first flight of stairs and she predicted it would take her longer with the second considering there were more creaks and groans possible with this flight.

It made her think of her house at home in Wrickenridge. They'd moved into the house shortly after her mother had gotten pregnant with Willow and at first, Gracie had hated the house. With six bedrooms it was far bigger than their old house, but it was older and therefore a lot noisier to live in. Every stair would complain when you stood on it; the walls would groan when the wind outside was especially bad; there were constant drafts running throughout the house. They had even found a family of white rats living in the basement. Granted, the rats turned out to be rather tame and Gracie now kept them as pets in a large cage in her bedroom, but it still hadn't been a nice discovery at the time. Moving into the house had given her a larger bedroom – in fact, the whole top floor of the three-floor house was hers. It consisted of two bedrooms, a small lounge area, and her very own bathroom. She loved it of course, especially after her father and two of her uncles worked extra hard to decorate it perfectly for her, and that had made the house feel a lot more like home to her. She had grown used to all the noises the old house made, just like she had with the school and the dormitories.

As she reached the bottom of the second flight of stairs, she heard voices and stopped. Cautiously, she peered her head around the corner of the wall and saw a group of five teachers huddled together outside one of the bedrooms. She quickly pressed herself against the wall to hide from them, breathing slowly and trying to stay quiet. From this position, their voices travelled over to her mid-conversation.

"- and now her roommate is in complete hysterics!" She heard Mr Rupert, her English teacher, hiss in a whispered voice. "I can't believe this."

"This has certainly become out of control now," Danielle replied to him. "It's simply gone too far-" The sound of footsteps rushing along the corridor was evident. "Ah, Mrs Burn. Finally you're here."

"What's happened?" The headteacher asked.

"What do you think?" Miss Petreley, a strict and unattractive maths teacher snapped. "The Illusionists have taken another child! Noelle Davis, a year eight girl. The bedroom window is wide open but surely they couldn't have come in through there and taken her out that way? They couldn't have, it's far too high!"

"Did her roommate see anything?" Mrs Burn asked in a calm voice.

"She says that she saw a man with a blurry face," Gracie heard a teacher that was unfamiliar to her answer. "She won't stop crying, she thinks she's going mad."

"Very well," Burn answered. "I shall go in now and erase her memory. We'll tell her and the rest of the students if they ask that Noelle simply decided that she was ready to leave the school. She's gone home to her parents."

"And what will we tell the girl's family?" Mr Rupert questioned.

"Nothing just yet. Right now, they don't need to know that their daughter is no longer at the school. We don't need this getting out."

"We should tell the net," Danielle said in a shaky voice. "Noelle is the fourth child they've taken, Barbara! We can't let this carry on, we have to protect our students. The net will be able to help-"

"No, Danielle." Burn replied in a strict voice. Gracie could just imagine her beady eyes narrowing at Danielle. "The net is corrupt, there are far too many moles and traitors interwoven in the system. How do we know The Illusionists don't have people working there? It wouldn't surprise me if they do, they seem to be everywhere. We have to figure this out on our own if we truly want to protect the students."

"And what if The Illusionists have somebody working here?" Danielle pointed out just what Gracie had been thinking. "What if one of our own will tell them everything we know?"

"If that is the case... The school is in a lot of danger," Burn sighed loud enough for even Gracie to hear. "You lot go back to your rooms and get some sleep, if we stay here any longer we might wake up some of the girls. I'll erase Noelle's roommate's memory and tell her that Noelle has gone home."

The other teachers murmured their assent and Gracie heard their soft footsteps walking away from her. Before Burn realised she was there, Gracie quickly hurried up the stairs, making sure to be careful where she put her feet and got back to her bedroom in record time.

She slid under the covers, her mind busy thinking about what she had overheard whilst eavesdropping on her teachers. Who were 'The Illusionists'? From what she had gathered, they obviously weren't on the side of the net nor were they friends of the school. So, they were rogue savants against the net. But what did they want? What was their objective? And why were they taking students?

This was something that Gracie shouldn't know, she knew that. But now that she did know about it she desperately wanted to know what it all meant. But no matter how hard she thought about it, no matter how long she spent trying to figure it all out, it was no use. It remained a mystery to her. She contemplated waking Sam and Allie up and telling them what she'd heard but something inside of her stopped her. For some reason, despite them being two of her closest friends here, she felt like she couldn't tell them or trust them with this information.

Killian Ashe was the only person she felt she could trust with this. Maybe he would have some answers or guesses about it. Because all Gracie knew right now was that something was going on at the school that the teachers didn't even trust the net with.

And that meant that something was very dangerous indeed.

* * *

**17th February 2020**

Despite all her wondering thoughts about The Illusionists, Gracie did actually manage to fall asleep that night. She had been so exhausted that she slept through her alarm clock and was woken by Allie; Gracie had only just enough time to get ready before she had to rush out of the bedroom. She had slept in too late and missed her chance to help with the animals but she didn't get a chance to apologize to Killian because she didn't have Power Construction first lesson on Monday's.

She headed off to Maths first lesson and failed to be able to pay attention. Miss Petreley seemed like her normal wound-up self no more than ordinary. If Gracie hadn't overheard the teachers' conversation last night, she wouldn't have guessed that something bad was going on at the school. It was a good façade the teachers were putting on but now that Gracie knew it was all fake she saw straight through them. The worry for the students was clear in the way Miss Petreley's hands shook as she handed out the worksheet and the way she gave out more and more detentions which would keep the students inside and not available to be kidnapped or whatever. In fact, by the end of the lesson she gave the whole class break and lunchtime detentions simply because none of them understood the work and therefore didn't complete the full worksheet.

The whole class were in a grumpy mood as they left the room, including Gracie. It was bad enough that she'd slept in but now she had two detentions and wouldn't be able to help with the animals. After school would be her only chance to talk to Killian but Danielle tended to be around at that time so she wouldn't be able to confide in him about what she'd overheard. If she had to wait until tomorrow to tell him, she thought she might go crazy.

And then in second lesson she received a note from Danielle saying that her and Killian wouldn't be needed after school because some other students were being made to help as a punishment for not turning up to their lessons. Which now meant she wouldn't be able to talk to Killian properly until tomorrow morning. But this was something that Gracie couldn't wait that long to tell him. She needed to tell somebody; she couldn't keep it hidden forever.

Third lesson saw her going to the library for her English class. They were doing detailed book reports so Mr Rupert had told them to choose a book from the library and they would start reading it this lesson; they'd have to read the rest in their free time and work on the book report in class. Sam, Allie and Killian were all in Gracie's English class.

When she entered the library, she saw the girls scanning the bookshelves and looked around at the tables for Killian. Like she had expected, he was sat on his own. He already had a book in his hands; Gracie looked closely and saw that he was reading _Insomnia_ by Stephen King. Feeling her watching him, he looked up at her with a guarded mask of an expression. He let his guard down however when he realised it was her. He smiled a little before quickly looking back down at the book as if remembering that they were supposed to ignore each other in public.

Screw that, Gracie thought to herself. She needed to talk to him and this was the only way to organize something. She strode over to his table and ignored the funny looks a few of her classmates gave her when they spotted where she was going. When she reached his table, Killian looked up at her with alarm in his eyes. "Gracie, what are you doing?" He whispered. "We're not supposed to be friends, remember?"

"Never mind that," she answered as she looked down at him, also whispering so they didn't get told off by the librarian. "This is important."

Killian's eyebrows furrowed together. "OK," he finally said. "As long as it's important. Where were you this morning, anyway? I was worried about you."

Ignoring the butterflies that erupted in her stomach at the knowledge of him caring enough to worry about her, Gracie shook her head. "I slept in, it's nothing to worry about. Look, I couldn't sleep last night so I went for a walk and I overheard something I really shouldn't have."

"I'm not surprised," he said. "Eavesdroppers always end up overhearing something they wish they hadn't. Did you hear one of the guys that sneak into the girls dorms messing around with their girlfriend?" He joked.

Not in the mood for joking around, Gracie was quick to roll her eyes and shake her head exasperatedly. "This is serious, Killian. Look, go to your dorm room straight after classes finish, okay? I'll find some way to get up there without being noticed. I really need to talk to you."

Killian frowned, clearly now understanding that she really did mean this was serious. She could see him trying and failing to figure out what it was. He nodded his head and said, "Fine, I'll-"

"Gracie?" Sam interrupted Killian as she came over to them, looking back and forth between the two in suspicion. "What are you doing? Allie and I saved you a seat over on the other side of the library."

"Oh great. Thanks," she faked a smile. "I was just telling Killian about that note Danielle sent me. She asked me to pass the message on," she lied.

"Right, of course," Sam replied in a tone that strangely sounded like she didn't believe a word Gracie was saying. "Come on, then. I think I found a book for you that you'll love, although you can choose something different if you want."

Gracie smiled gratefully at her friend, shot Killian a look that said 'you better be there', before following Sam towards the table Allie was waiting for them at.

* * *

**A hint about the next chapter: **Kiss.


	10. Chapter 10

**17th February 2020**

Gracie felt like she was in some sort of action or spy movie as she crept around the back of the boys dormitories building. Luckily for her, Killian's bedroom was at the back of the building, the window facing out to the fields behind instead of the driveway in front of the school. There were eight floors in each dorm building and like Gracie's, his room was on the top floor.

She peered up at his window and could see a light turned on. At least he's in there, she thought to herself. She hoped her plan on getting in there unnoticed by other students would work. It all depended on her controlling her power at the end of the day and hopefully it would all turn out well because of how hard she'd been working.

She had mostly been working on the wind element in her Power Construction lessons the last few weeks. Or, as Annie preferred to call it, the air element- she'd told Gracie that 'air' was more fitting considering Gracie created the wind from normal air, so it was actually air that she controlled.

She looked back up at Killian's window and took a deep breath before closing her eyes and calming her erratic heartbeat. What she was about to attempt was something she had only just begun to touch on in class: flying. Well, not flying exactly, more like making the air hold her weight and carry her upwards. It was something she'd mentioned in her first Power Construction class, telling Annie that her mother thought she may be able to do that, and she had been excited to try it out. When she was younger, her mother would take the gravity away so she could fly around; it was something they did just for some fun and Gracie had loved the feeling of being weightless and like a bird.

But in class she'd only managed to float a foot off the ground and had only been able to hold herself up for one minute thirty two seconds, to be precise. But surely now that she knew how to do it, and how to control her power in a sense, she would be able to at least get up to Killian's bedroom, right? At least she hoped so anyway.

Annie had gone through a few methods of finding the power inside of yourself and grabbing hold of it until Gracie found one that seemed to work well for her, and they were in hopes that soon Gracie would be able to use it automatically without having to focus so hard (Annie was convinced she would only be able to do this when she started to use the water element again). Gracie worked on using the method that had seemed easiest for her to use.

She searched inside of her mind until she saw a swirling bright golden light inside of her that was streaked through with blue streaks that looked suspiciously like the lightening bolts Killian created. She pictured the light separating into four parts before each part contracted and crushed in on itself until they were just small balls of light. Each were identical but Gracie knew that they weren't identical in power: there was one for every element and somehow she instinctively knew which was which. Using her mind, she made the air element rush towards her and release itself from her mind, release itself from her body.

She could feel the power encasing her body, running through every nerve down to her fingertips. Gracie opened her eyes, suddenly felt electric yet calm at the same time. She swirled her hands out in the air around her as she was taking hold of it and pictured shaping the invisible air into the shape of a cloud. Carefully she stepped onto it and gave it a moment to get used to her weight before slowly rising from the ground.

She didn't think about the fact she'd gone no higher than a foot in class, she simply let the air move and take over. She lifted higher and higher, making sure to direct the air cloud around the windows so anybody in the bedrooms wouldn't see her flying upwards, before she finally stopped at the highest window. Looking down with wide eyes, she couldn't believe it. She had actually controlled air enough that she had flew!

Suddenly, as she lost concentration for just the slightest second, the cloud weakened and she nearly fell. But thankfully she managed to strengthen it again just in time and she breathed out a sigh of relief. She looked through Killian's bedroom window, her eyes drifting straight towards him.

He was sat on a stool in front of an easel, paintbrush in hand with a frown of concentration on his face as the brush stroked across the canvas. He jumped and dropped the brush when Gracie knocked on the window and he looked up and spotted her. He quickly stumbled to his feet – he was wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt that both had spatters on paint on them – almost tripping over a leg of the stool and rushed towards the window, swinging it open.

"Gracie, what the hell?!" He exclaimed. "There's a thing called a door, you know."

Gracie rolled her eyes. "But people would see me going into your room and as you keep reminding me, our friendship is a secret," she grinned and held out her arms. "Help me in."

Killian grabbed hold of Gracie and pulled her into the room, setting her down on her feet. His hands slid from her upper arms and to her waist and stayed there. "Wait, did you use air?" He asked in amazement.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Yeah, it worked! Can you believe it? I can't wait to tell Annie tomorrow."

"Well she'll certainly be impressed, that's for sure." He let go of her and went back to the window, pushing it shut. "I am, anyway. You're sure nobody saw you? Because if they did... Gracie, I don't want them to start giving you hell like they do with me."

"Relax," she waved a hand. "Nobody saw me, I'm sure of it." She strode over to the canvas and looked at what he was painting. It was obviously still unfinished but it was easy to see what he was painting. "Me? Again?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows and pointing at the half of her face he'd painted. "This is the fourth painting of me I've seen you do."

Killian blushed, running a hand through his hair in embarrassment as he let out a nervous chuckle. "I uh, I like to paint beautiful things and... You're very beautiful, Gracie. You have a very easy face to paint. I can't explain it, it's just like the strokes of the brush flow freely and I enjoy painting you. God, this is so embarrassing."

Gracie tried not to smile, she really did, but she couldn't stop herself. "Don't be embarrassed, Killian. You know, it's actually quite a nice feeling to have somebody admire me so much they paint me all the time," she joked. "I really don't mind, honestly."

He relaxed a little and smiled. "So what was it that you were so desperate to tell me about?"

The smile fell from Gracie's face. In his presence she had almost forgotten about why she'd come to his bedroom but now there was no avoiding it. With a sigh she sat down on the stool and Killian leaned back against his desk. She started from the beginning, with not being able to sleep, and went on to tell him all about the conversation she'd heard the teachers having before she'd ran back up to her bedroom. She had been thinking about it all day and it was such a relief to finally be able to let it all spill from her lips.

"So what do you think?" She asked afterwards. Killian had stayed silent the whole time. "Do you know who The Illusionists are?"

"I feel like I've heard the name before but I can't think where..." He said slowly, eyebrows furrowed together. He shook his head and sighed. "I don't know, Gracie. But don't you think we should stay out of this? It isn't our problem, just let the teachers deal with it."

A flare of anger sparked inside of her. "Oh 'cause they're doing a great job of dealing with it right now, aren't they?"

"Don't snap at me," he replied sternly. "And put that fire out!"

Gracie looked beside her and saw scrunched up paper and rubbish in a trashcan now set alight. Instead of using her water element, she grabbed the cup of water Killian had been using to wash his paintbrush with and threw it over the fire, turning to look at Killian again once the fire went out. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's fine," he shrugged. "But I meant what I said, Gracie. This sounds like it could be dangerous and I don't want to see you get hurt. Please promise me that you'll stay out of this. The teachers are all powerful and they all have experience in things like this, I'm sure they'll figure it out."

"You really have that much in faith in them? Because I don't," she stood up. "All I have to do is think of Laurel. The net are more experienced than the teachers and they couldn't find Laurel, in the end it was my mother that took Laurel down. It was my mum that found out where she was and my mum that alerted the authorities and told me how to catch Laurel and her guys. The people with the most experience aren't always the heroes."

"So, what? You want us to figure this out, save the students, become heroes?" He asked sarcastically. "Gracie, just stay out of it. If the teachers were seriously worried that we're all in danger, they'd close down the school and send us all home, don't you think?"

"I guess so..." She looked down at the floor.

He walked over to her and stood in front of her, putting a hand on each of her cheeks. "Hey, look at me." She did. "This probably isn't even as bad as you think it is. Just leave the teachers to it, Gracie. They've already figured out who's taken the students – these Illusionists or whatever – so I'm sure they'll figure out the rest soon enough. This school is the safest place I have ever known. It's my home. This school is not going down."

"It might do. Maybe if we can figure out more information about this, we can help them or-"

"No. I can't let you risk getting hurt, don't get involved. Please just do this one thing for me. Please."

She couldn't bear to see him getting worked up over this so she found herself nodding even though she knew she wouldn't be able to forget about this. Two of her uncles were in the FBI, one of her aunts was a lawyer, her father was a policeman, and the whole family had been involved in a mission for the net at least once in their lives. It was in her genes to feel the need to help people and figure things like this out. She couldn't just let it go. But she didn't want to ruin her friendship with Killian or upset him in any way, so she guessed she was on her own now.

He couldn't help her. Killian was used to a sheltered life at the school and before that, yes he had suffered terribly, but he'd never had to go on missions for the net and put his own life at risk to save others. He didn't understand and that was okay, it really was; everybody was different and had their own experiences in life. Everybody had something different to deal with. So she guessed she'd have to find out about The Illusionists on her own and without his help.

At least he'd be there to take her mind off it all when she needed a break. "Okay," she whispered the lie.

"Thank you," he replied in a voice that was also quiet and just a little shaky.

Gracie had been looking down as she lied, unable to look into his eyes as she did so, but she now looked up. She expected to meet his eyes but was shocked to see that Killian's eyes were glancing down. At her lips. Which made her eyes gaze down at his lips. She watched as he gulped and licked his lips, breathing softly. Was he going to kiss her? Did she want him to kiss her? _Yes, _a voice at the back of her mind answered her own thoughts.

And it was right. She _did_ want him to kiss her. Only then did she realise that she had been wanting that for a long time now. It was like a part of her was longing for him, desperate to be close to him and never leave his side. But Killian wasn't moving. Gracie wondered if maybe he didn't want to kiss her or maybe he was too scared? Either way, for her there was no turning back now. She _needed_ this.

She lifted her head up just a little bit and leaned forward, gently pressing her lips against his. Killian hesitated for a moment before he kissed her back, moving his lips against hers. He slid one hand from her cheek to cup the back of her head, tangling into her hair, whilst the other hand moved down to her lower back, pulling her closer to him. Gracie lifted her own arms up and wrapped them around his neck, tangling her fingers into his mess of strawberry blonde hair.

He opened his mouth slightly and she slid her tongue inside, running it over the top front tooth of his that was chipped in half. As they moved their mouths together, tongues dancing and caressing each other, Gracie started moving backwards, pulling him with her.

This wasn't her first kiss but this was the first kiss she'd experienced that gave her tingles all over and made her head spin. Their lips fit together so perfectly and it was suddenly like Gracie was a jigsaw that had been missing an important piece of herself – and in Killian, she had found that missing piece. Unlike other kisses she'd had, she wasn't fighting for dominance with him: they were equals, the perfect match for each other, and they moved in sync. It was as if their bodies knew each other, like they had done this before and had missed this physical connection with one another.

Gracie's back hit the wall and their lips parted for just the slightest second so they could breathe before they met again. She never wanted to stop kissing him. Killian moved both of his hands to her waist before sliding them downwards to the backs of her thighs. He lifted her up easily and she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms still around his neck, and he stepped as close to her as he could, his chest crushing against the wall.

Everything disappeared from her mind: missing home, controlling her powers, The Illusionists, keeping her friendship with Killian a secret... None of it mattered when she was kissing him. She didn't even think about how this might ruin her relationship because there was no part of her telling her that it could. This, being with him, just felt... _Right_.

Their lips parted again and Gracie immediately missed the contact and wanted to pull his lips to hers again. But then Killian moved his lips to her neck and Gracie's chin lifted, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as she gasped softly in pleasure. "Killian..." She whispered his name like it was a prayer. She tugged his hair to lift his head back up and pressed her lips against his again.

Keeping hold of her and still kissing her, Killian moved them away from the wall and navigated his way through the messy bedroom until they reached his bed. He lowered her onto the sheets and held his weight above her, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against hers. For a moment, they just stared into each other's eyes in a daze. Gracie couldn't believe this was actually happening but she was oh so glad that it was.

"I can't go any further than this," Killian whispered in a husky tone. Gracie instantly knew that he meant he couldn't have sex with her. "I just... I can't handle that yet. After everything that happened with Derry... I just can't..."

"Shh," she stroked his cheek with one of her hands. "Killian, it's okay. I understand. We don't have to have sex, we can wait until you're ready. Besides, I don't even think I'm ready for my first time yet either. This," she kissed him gently, "is enough for me. Okay?"

In response, he lowered his head and kissed her again.

* * *

Author's note:

I was going to update my other two stories before writing this chapter but I was just so excited for them to finally kiss that I had to write it, haha! At first I was going to have them kiss and then pull away, say it'd ruin their friendship, blah blah. But that's overdone and I just felt they needed something more if that makes sense.

Please please please leave reviews! xo

**A hint about the next chapter:** Killian is keeping something from Gracie; Gracie gets some advice from Trace.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: I really did plan on updating sooner than this but I've been so busy I just didn't have the time to sit down and spend a whole day writing a chapter like I usually did; I've had to write it bit by bit so I'm sorry if it's not very good and/or doesn't flow together well. It's not one of my best chapters, I know.

So, you met 9 year old Gracie in S&S, as well as her making an appearance in L&W and APFOS... Now, you get to meet 9 year old Killian. Hope you like it- don't forget to leave reviews please, I love reading them so thank you so much.

* * *

**18th February 2020**

The morning had started off well. Brilliant, in fact. Killian had arrived at the stables even earlier than usual seeing as in his excitement of his 'development in friendship' with Gracie he had barely slept and was eager to see her again.

He wasn't going to lie, he did like it here at the school, but he had hated that he'd had no friends despite the fact he told himself over and over that was the best thing- if he had friends, they would get too close and he would have to spill his darkest secrets. It had been different with Gracie though: he'd _wanted_ to tell her all those things. And school had become a lot better now that he was friends with her, even more so after last night.

Killian had had a small crush on Gracie ever since he met her, which had intensified as he'd grown to know her. So last night when they'd finally kissed, it was like everything he'd wanted recently finally came true and he didn't think he'd ever been happier than he was at that moment.

This morning he had been nervous that she would regret last night. But she didn't. In fact, when she walked into the stables she didn't say anything at all to him and instead kissed him straight away. He loved how confident and straight-forward she was, knowing that he wouldn't have had the guts to go over and just kiss her like that. As they fed the animals they were acting like a loved up couple and were exactly the same in their Power Construction class whenever they thought Annie wasn't looking at them.

His good mood went away however in fourth period, which was a free period for him. He headed off to the library to catch up on some homework at first, but his mind was pre-occupied as he sat at the table and stared off into space. Something was nagging him at the back of his mind and he heard a memory of Gracie's voice telling him what she'd heard about The Illusionists. The thought made his mind drift back to a memory of the past, just a week before Killian's family disappeared when he was just nine years old...

_He'd dreamed of ice cubes floating in the air moments before the earth opened up and large flames of fire arose and melted the ice. In the dream there was a little girl with dark curls stood to the side, watching the ice melt with a smile on her face. The dream made no sense to him but it didn't matter; when he awoke, he barely even remembered any of it._

_It was still dark outside when Killian woke up but no matter how much he tried to fall back asleep, he couldn't. His older brother Aedan always said that when he couldn't sleep he went downstairs to get a snack or a glass of milk and it always worked. So the little boy climbed down the ladders of the bunk-bed – Finbar and Lochlan were sharing the bottom bunk as a result of them jumping on Lochlan's bed across the room and breaking it – and padded barefoot out of the bedroom and started to make his way down the stairs._

_He paused in the doorway of the kitchen however when he heard voices coming from inside. Peering silently through the gap in the door, he saw his mum and dad stood near the counter, his mother holding a piece of white card in a shaking hand._

"_Read it out loud again," his dad said._

_Killian's mum tucked her red curls behind her ear and read out loud words from the card in her hand: "This is the last time we're going to warn you. We know what you did. You know too much. You have two more weeks to get us the money or we will kill you all." She looked up at her husband. "Carrick, what are we going to do? We barely have enough money to look after our children, never mind give these people 10 grand. Oh sweet Jesus, they're going to hurt us and our children! There's nothing we can do to stop them!"_

"_Bridget, hush. You might wake the kids," Carrick said in a calm voice. "You're right, we can't afford to give them that much. But we have money saved up. We can leave town, leave the country. Go somewhere The Illusionists will never find us. They might have powers but you can use your power to shield us, to prevent any tracker from finding us. We'll be impossible to find. We'll leave next week- that gives us enough time to get everything sorted. We can't tell the children until the day of, we can't risk them accidentally telling somebody. We will pick the children up from school and then we will leave. I will not let The Illusionists hurt my family. I promise you, love."_

_That was when Killian decided to step into the kitchen, sleepily rubbing his eyes and looking up at his parents. "Mum? Dad? I can't get back to sleep... Are we really moving? I don't want to move house. Who wants to hurt us?"_

_Carrick and Bridget shared a look before Carrick sighed and moved forward, kneeling down in front of his youngest son. "I swore I would never do this to any of my children, use my mind manipulation power, but this is necessary. I am sorry for this, Killian."_

"_Daddy, what do you mean?" Killian questioned a second before he fell silent, his eyes staring wide open and his own thoughts frozen as his dad took control of his mind._

"_Killian," he said softly, "you will go back up to bed now and go straight to sleep. You will not remember coming downstairs, nor will you remember the conversation you heard your mother and I having. Go now, and forget this ever happened."_

Back in the present, Killian almost gasped out loud but managed not to so that he didn't draw any unnecessary attention to himself. His dad's power had worked: Killian hadn't remembered going downstairs and hearing that conversation... Until now.

He couldn't believe that the group of people that were kidnapping students had been blackmailing his parents for whatever reason. He doubted it was a coincidence that he'd heard his parents saying all that just a week before his family disappeared. Had they left to escape The Illusionists and simply left Killian behind? He didn't want to imagine them being capable of doing that but he'd started to think that it was a possibility over the years. Had something gone wrong, had The Illusionists killed his family and left him alone because he was so young?

He desperately needed answers about what happened to his family, especially now. His first immediate thought was to tell Gracie about the memory that had come back to him but then he hesitated. The Illusionists had been blackmailing his parents until the point where they were planning running away, they might have killed them, and they were now kidnapping students. Which meant they were _dangerous_. He didn't want to put Gracie in danger and that's what snooping around and asking questions about them could do.

He'd made her promise last night that she wouldn't get involved and he was glad about that. He couldn't tell her this; he couldn't drag her back into it.

He silently decided that he would keep this a secret from her and try and find out what happened to his family on his own. He could live with putting himself in danger, but he couldn't live with putting Gracie in danger.

"Ashe," he heard somebody say his surname. Looking up, he saw one of his classmates slide into the seat across from him. He had dark hair and blue eyes and he fancied himself as a bit of a ladies man and was definitely the most popular guy in their year group, maybe even in the school. So why was Alec Carstairs talking to Killian Ashe of all people?

Killian looked around in confusion before looking back at Alec. "Are you talking to me?"

"Of course I am," he rolled his eyes. "Trust me, I wish I wasn't but I have something to talk to you about."

Killian frowned, wondering what on earth Alec wanted to talk to him about. Nothing came to mind. "Okay then, what do you want?"

Alec looked around to make sure nobody was listening before leaning in closer and talking in a hushed voice. "I know about you and Gracie Benedict."

He pretended not to be shocked by that announcement and remained poker-faced. "What do you mean? You know that we work together? Everybody does, it's not something new."

Alec smirked. "That's not what I mean. I know that you and her are dating. You haven't been very careful about it."

"Dating?" Killian raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Me and Gracie are not dating. We're barely even friends, she knows that if we were her social status would be ruined. I don't know where you got this stupid idea that we're dating but-"

"I saw you both kissing," Alec interrupted him, causing the smile to fall from Killian's face. "I went for a run around the fields early this morning and just happened to pass by the stables. And there you were in the doorway, practically attached to each other." Killian stayed silent. "That's right, you can't deny it because it's true. So listen, I'm betting that you want this to be kept secret. Like you said, if people knew, Gracie's social status would be ruined- I doubt she wants to lose all of her friends over this."

"Why are you telling me this?" Killian asked flatly through almost clenched teeth. "Why haven't you gone around telling all of your friends yet?"

"Because I'm ready to make a deal with you. I won't tell anybody about you and her being together in return for you doing something for me."

"Fine. What do you want me to do?" Killian answered, still knowing that he didn't want Gracie's time here to be spoiled by people knowing about their new relationship.

"The annual ball that celebrates the day the school first opened is next week. I'm going to ask Gracie to be my date and I want you to make her say yes."

"What, can't you get a date by yourself? Or have you already screwed over every girl available?" Killian snapped, pissed off.

"Funny. I have my reasons for wanting to take Gracie, I don't have to explain them to _you_. So, will you do it?"

Killian shook his head. "I can't make Gracie do anything, especially be your date to the ball. She's stubborn and she has her own mind."

"If she doesn't say yes, then I will tell everybody about your little secret."

"It's up to Gracie," Killian said with a shrug of the shoulders. "But I'm not going to make her do anything."

Alec stood up and before he walked away, he looked down at Killian. "You better hope, for her sake, that she agrees to go with me. Otherwise you'll see her be miserable for the rest of the school year and I'm betting you don't want that... Just keep that in mind, Ashe."

* * *

Students being punished were yet again taking over cleaning duties with the animals after school so Gracie had gone into the living room of the girls dorm building with Allie and Sam to watch some vampire movie. Halfway through, Gracie excused herself and headed up to their bedroom.

She hadn't been able to focus on her schoolwork all day but thankfully none of her teachers had noticed that her mind was constantly drifting away. She was thinking about last night and this morning and how wonderful it had been to kiss Killian and be intimate with him; it felt like ever since she'd met him, she had been craving to feel his touch and her heart had been warmed by happiness all day.

But she was also thinking about The Illusionists and her promise to Killian. She wished that she could keep her promise to him and she knew that he was right: she should let the adults do their job and figure this out by themselves. But she was a Benedict and it was in her nature to want answers. And she wanted answers about The Illusionists and what they were up to.

She grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts, clicking on 'Dad'. Trace answered on the fifth ring and they went on to exchange pleasantries and to say that they missed each other. "You sound a little worn out," Trace said afterwards. "What's the matter?"

Gracie contemplated telling him the absolute truth but decided against it. He would only make her promise not to get involved like Killian had. Instead she worked her way around the truth to get answers. "Oh, nothing much. It's just that I've got this big class assignment for history. I've got to do a presentation about a group of rogue savants. Thing is, I don't know much about rogue savants that have gone against the net, I don't know the names of any groups. I don't suppose you could help me out at all, could you?"

Trace hesitated for a moment before replying. "Well, I probably shouldn't do this but it's not exactly illegal so I can't get in trouble for it... I'll send you the link for the net's private website via email, along with my login and password. My account has confidential stuff about the law enforcement side of the net. There should be full records on groups of rogue savants. But you can't let anybody use this or know my login, Gracie."

"I won't, I promise. That would be so helpful, thank you so much." She was glad they were talking over the phone and not the webcam because she knew that Trace could always tell by her facial expression when she was lying. He would easily notice that she was lying about her intentions. "Dad, there's also something else. I've got to write a part about the police's part in catching them and sending them to jail. Do you think there were ever any people who weren't that highly ranked and maybe got told to keep out of it but they got involved because they simply wanted to help? What would you have said to them?"

"Well if they had good intentions and really did just want to help, they didn't have a hidden agenda, then I would have told them to continue searching for information. Sometimes the underdog is the one who solves the case. I'd tell them not to give up. Does that help you?"

"Yeah, it does actually. It helps a lot. Thanks, dad."

* * *

**A hint about the next chapter:** Alec asks Gracie to the ball.


	12. Chapter 12

**19th February 2020**

Gracie was woken by the sound of a small thud followed by the feeling of a presence in the room. She kept her eyes shut, goosebumps rising on her arms. Should she open her eyes and look or should she not? It was like she thought that if she couldn't see it, it couldn't see her. Whatever 'it' was. She wanted to be brave and open her eyes but the truth was that she was terrified.

She just had a feeling that it wasn't Sam or Allie wandering around the bedroom, that it was somebody who was not supposed to be in here. Somebody dangerous. It was a normal reaction to not want to look when you had that feeling.

_Don't be such a baby, _she said to herself. _Just open your eyes. Look. You might just be imagining it, your mind making things up... Or it could be a ghost or demon here to kill you. Stupid! Just open your eyes!_

Slowly her eyes opened, long eyelashes fluttering. She held her breath as her eyes adjusted to the dark and she lightly gasped at what she saw. There was a man dressed all in black leaning over Allie's sleeping form. He put a hand on her forehead, a silver glow encasing the two body parts until he moved his hand away. He shifted his arms under her and picked her up; Allie didn't even stir in her sleep, her chest rising and falling as if she were still in a peaceful dream.

Gracie sat up and screamed. She screamed because the man was giving off a terrifying vibe. She screamed because it looked like he was trying to kidnap Allie. She screamed because she wondered whether or not she was going to be next. She screamed to raise the alarm to whichever teacher was on dorm duty that night.

She saw Sam rubbing her eyes as the scream awoke her just as the man dropped Allie back onto her bed and all but charged at Gracie, putting one hand over her mouth and the other on her forehead. She felt her mind feeling more tired and for a moment she almost fell for it, almost let him put her in a deep sleep. But then out of the corner of her eye she saw Sam run out of the room – hopefully to get help – and came to her senses.

She brought her leg up and kneed the man in the stomach, pushing him off her. He stumbled back and she got out of bed and stood facing him. She finally met his eyes and gulped in fear. His face was blurry, making it impossible to make out any features but one thing stood out to Gracie: the irises of his eyes had a red ring around them that glimmered, almost glowing in the dark.

The man took advantage of her frozen pause and lurched forward, swinging a closed fist into Gracie's face, knocking her to the floor. It was a powerful punch that made her dizzy and a little dazed. When she finally managed to shake the fuzziness out of her mind and blink away the tears from the pain, she looked up... And the man was gone. And so was Allie. Happy, bubbly Allie had been taken.

"Gracie?" She looked up at the doorway at the voice and saw Sam stood there with Miss Petreley and Mrs Burn. The headteacher had been the one to speak. "What's happened? Samira said that you were fighting with a man..." She looked around. "Where's your other roommate, Allie Parker?"

"He took her," Gracie said as she stood back up. "I don't know how... But he took Allie. Oh God, he had red eyes and he just disappeared into thin air..." She said in a panic.

"Shush Gracie," Burn said gently. She walked towards Gracie and led her to the bed, sitting her down and kneeling in front of her. "Shh, calm down. Your cheek and eye are bright red, they look sore."

"I don't care," she said honestly. Yes it was hurting her but she wasn't paying attention to that. "The man's face was blurry, how is that even possible?"

"It's them." Miss Petreley said in a low tone as if talking to herself. "That's a fifth one they've taken now."

"Quiet," Burn snapped at her before turning back to Gracie. "It's okay, Gracie. You can calm down. I'm going make both you and Samira forget that you woke up tonight, forget the man you saw." Her voice had a lilting, melodic tone to it that quietened the three others in the room and drew Gracie's eyes to the older woman's in front of her. "You'll think that Allie left. She's made good progress in her classes and we all came to the agreement she didn't need our help anymore. She didn't tell anyone else because she didn't want a big fuss to be made of it. You hurt your eye by walking into a door, nothing serious. It was an accident. Okay? So just clear your mind for me so I can take this traumatic memory away from you, sweetheart."

It _was_ traumatic, Gracie thought to herself. She'd probably have nightmares about it for weeks, maybe even longer. It would be easier to forget it but...

The Illusionists had taken Allie, one of her best friends at the school. It was clear to her that it was them, from the teacher's reactions and the fact that Allie wasn't the first to be kidnapped. She just knew it was them. And there was no way that she could take steps forward in finding them if she forgot about Allie. It was personal to her now, she wanted to find her friend.

A while ago her aunt Vivienne, who was married to Trace's brother Uriel, had taught her how to make different kinds of powerful shields around her mind which was a part of Vivienne's savant power. There was a kind of shield where a savant could block her mind from anything or anyone trying to get into it but put a mental sheet over the block, as if hiding it. The person trying to get into her mind wouldn't even know that she had a mental block.

Gracie focused to put that block on her mind now and when Mrs Burn tried to use her power to take Gracie's memory away, she acted like it worked.

But it hadn't.

She remembered everything. And she was determined to find The Illusionists and save her friend.

* * *

It was Wednesday but some of the teachers were having a teacher training course so all classes were cancelled. Gracie had ended up sleeping in to catch up on the sleep she'd lost with the whole Allie fiasco but that didn't matter as Danielle had told her and Killian to have the day off.

She had attempted to put make up on but it was no use, the dark purple bruise under her eye and along the top of her cheek was still visible and stood out on her face. Some people stared at her and some asked what happened. They all seemed to believe her lie about walking into the door. People also believed the story about Allie leaving which was ridiculous. Just the idea of Allie not wanting a big fuss out of it should have been enough to make people doubt the story- if Allie had left the school, she would have definitely wanted a lot of attention on herself for it. It's just the type of person she was. But of course, Gracie couldn't tell anybody the truth as she didn't want them getting dragged into this, not even Sam whom Burn's power had worked on.

Gracie was sat in the library at a table with her laptop in front of her, the net's private website on the screen. Luckily she had found a seat with a wall behind it so nobody could creep up on her and see what she was doing. She'd logged in with her father's username and password and now had the criminal database in front of her.

It seemed pretty straight-forward to navigate as it had a simple layout and everything was labelled. She typed "The Illusionists" into the search bar at the top of the page and waited until it loaded. She felt kind of disappointed when it came up with only three related searches, but at least it was better than nothing.

The first search brought up a short diary entry from an agent working for the net and it read:

_February, 1990_

_Today I was called onto the scene of the murder of a teenage girl at the Savant Academy in Yorkshire. It was a brutal scene- she'd been beaten black and blue and her throat had been slashed and she'd been left to rot in a ditch on one of the fields. A piece of paper had been sewn into her skin and somebody had left a note on the paper:_

She knew too much. This is what will happen to anybody who tries to find out who we are and tries to stop us. Do not let anyone make the same mistake again. -The Illusionists.

_This leaves many unanswered questions for us. Who are The Illusionists? Why was this fourteen year old trying to find out information about them? Had they killed before? The headteacher of the school, a Mr Matthew Garrett, confided in us that three students had been kidnapped from their bedrooms at night recently and they believed it was by the same people who killed the girl. We're all angry that they didn't tell us beforehand, the first one was taken weeks ago. Does the Academy have anything to do with The Illusionists? _

_I need to find these children. I am Agent Robert Winchester and I have never failed in an investigation; this will not be the first time. _

Gracie closed the page with a frown on her face. Aside from the murder, all of this sounded highly familiar to what was going on now. Too familiar to be a coincidence. Matthew Garrett had been Mrs Burn's father (there was a portrait of him in the school entrance); it was the same Academy as that one in 1990; students were being kidnapped from their bedrooms. What did all of this mean? Gracie had no idea.

She clicked on the next link which brought her to a page of notes written by an unidentified source, most likely whoever was in charge at the time.

_February, 2000_

_Four children reported missing from the Savant Academy_

_One witness: Witness reports she saw a man with red eyes and a blurry face disappear into thin air with her roommate_

_The case is similar to one ten years ago. Agent in charge of the investigation, Agent Winchester, never solved the case_

_Agent Winchester recently turned up dead, body bruised and throat slashed (same as the killer ten years ago maybe?)_

_Headteacher Mr Garrett has been suspended on suspicion of trying to hide the disappearances again_

_The children were never found ten years ago [there were three kidnapped], is it the same group behind the disappearances now? They called themselves The Illusionists._

This didn't tell Gracie anything that she didn't already know besides the fact it had happened in 1990 and 2000, that the witness saw what she had, and that Agent Winchester was dead. Had The Illusionists come back and killed Agent Winchester for knowing too much or for trying to take them down the last time? Why had they waited ten years before making a move again? What exactly were they after?

She had so many questions in her head and not one of them were being answered. She wished that Killian was with her so she'd have another person trying to figure this out with her but then she reminded herself that he didn't want either of them to be involved so she couldn't tell him.

With a sigh, she closed that window and clicked on the final link.

_February, 2010_

_The Wilson family, all savants, were recently found in their house. They were all dead, even the children, the youngest being just a baby. They were all killed by having their throat slashed. A threatening note was found amongst their belongings, telling them to pay "The Illusionists" 10 grand otherwise the whole family would be killed._

_We have had involvements with The Illusionists before, first in 1990 and then in 2000 [see case study 1 and case study 2 for details]. In both cases children from the Savant Academy were being kidnapped. The Academy's new headmistress Barbara Garrett (previous headmaster's daughter) recently reported two of the students to have gone missing on the same night. There is no evidence to suggest they were kidnapped but Miss Garrett insists they would not have run away. Like in 2000, there was a witness that reported seeing a man with red eyes and a blurry face._

_It is in our belief that The Illusionists are an organization of savants against the savant net that have continued to exist over the years by bringing in new people constantly. For some reason, they need children from the Academy. Maybe to have the children join them or to use them for their power? _

_The Wilson family were not the only family to have received threatening notes from the organization. Two years ago, three families were found killed in exactly the same way and a year before that a family came to the net seeking protection as they too had received a note similar to the Wilson's. We do not believe that the Wilson family will be the last to suffer._

_It seems like The Illusionists find out a secret about the family, something incriminating, and blackmail them. If the family do not pay up within two months, they continue to send notes until eventually they murder the family._

_They have been around for twenty years now and their identities and their goals still remain a mystery to us._

Gracie felt sick. Any hopes she'd had of figuring out who they were and how she could get her friend back had just gone flying out of the window. _Twenty years. _Twenty years and even the most qualified agents for the net haven't managed to figure this out so how on Earth was she supposed to?

Reading these files had helped yes, but they'd also left her with even more questions. This was beyond her intelligence, she was sure of it. She hated that she felt so useless in the matter. Benedict's didn't give up, it was practically a family moral. But she seriously couldn't see any way of figuring this out.

_You can't give up_, she told herself. _Allie needs you and so do the other kids that have been taken. No adult has ever figured this out but maybe you can. _She doubted that but it gave her a little push to not give up so for that she was grateful.

"Gracie," a voice said. Looking up, she saw a boy from her physics class stood beside the table. He was handsome but she didn't get butterflies in her stomach at having his attention like she might have done in the past, mainly because she only had eyes for Killian these days. "I'm Alec, we have a few classes together. You mind if I sit down?"

"No, go ahead," she replied in a cautious voice. She closed the laptop as he sat across from her and forced a smile onto her face, not wanting to give away the inner thoughts going on inside of her. "Alec. So what's up?"

He smirked in a way that almost made him look devilish, but still good-looking. Damn. "I'm sure you've heard about the ball next week, yeah?" Gracie nodded; Allie hadn't been able to shut up about it she was that excited, despite not having a date. "Well I was wondering if you wanted to go with me. As my date."

Taken aback, her eyebrows raised. "Oh. Well, um... I'm not quite sure..."

"Do you already have a date or something?"

"No," she shook her head. She wished she could answer differently but she knew for a fact that Killian probably wouldn't even go if it wasn't compulsory, and she also knew that he had no plans of asking her seeing as it would probably make people dislike her because nobody liked him and he was basically right at the bottom of the social ladder. "But..."

"You're hoping Killian Ashe will ask you?" He guessed.

"What?! No! No, I-"

"You don't have to lie to me," he chuckled. "I know you're with him, I saw you kissing near the stables. But don't worry, I know you probably don't want anybody to know. After all, it would ruin your time here. Truthfully I don't know what you see in him and I doubt anyone else will either, but whatever. I won't tell anyone if you go to the ball with me."

Gracie frowned, not trusting him at all. "Why do you want to go with me if you know I'm with somebody else?"

"Because I like you," he smiled sweetly and shrugged his shoulders. "And I want to get to know you, I never have the chance to because you're always surrounded by your friends. If you're worried about what Ashe will say, don't bother. He doesn't care. I asked him to get you to say yes and he said that it was up to you. If he really cared, he would have told me to back off and leave you alone. But he didn't. He just shrugged his shoulders and said that it was your choice, not his."

"Did he really?" Gracie asked, mouth in a flat line. She couldn't believe this! How could Killian do that? How could he just let somebody else ask his girlfriend (if that's even what she was to him now) to the dance and act like he didn't care? This was the first conversation she'd had with Alec and already she got the feeling he was a little bastard so Killian obviously knew that too- why would he allow Gracie to go to the dance with somebody like that? She didn't want to date somebody who told her what to do but it would have been nice if he was even just a little bit jealous and protective over something like this.

She stood up and slid her laptop back into her bag. "Where are you going?" Alec asked, standing up himself. "So is that a yes or a no? Will you go to the dance with me?"

"No I won't," she snapped at him. "And even though it has nothing to do with you, I'm going to talk to Killian."

She walked away from Alec, fuming. Yes, she definitely had a few words to say to Killian.

* * *

**A hint about the next chapter: **Gracie confronts Killian.


	13. Chapter 13

**19th February 2020**

She was a storm. Quite literally, too. Not only was she charging up the stairs in the boys dormitories building and pushing anybody that got in her way to the side without caring if she hurt them, but her fury was all over the place. She had no control of it. Without realising it – nor caring enough to stop – the air was swirling around her, making her hair fly around her and making it difficult for her to keep walking. But she kept going, pushing through the wind she'd created until she got to Killian's bedroom.

She banged on the door twice. And another two times. No answer. So she kept banging and banging away until he finally opened the door. She managed to pull back her hand just in time to stop herself from hitting him in the face.

He looked absolutely, completely shocked to see her stood there. "Gracie?" He asked, eyes wide and eyebrows high on his forehead. "What are you doing here? What the hell happened to your face?"

"Doesn't matter," she snapped, pushing past him and into the room.

"Yeah, sure. Come on in," he mumbled, closing the door and turning around to face her. "Seriously though. People probably saw you come up here, they're going to start asking questions and getting ideas into their minds-"

"I don't fucking care what other people think, Killian!" She shouted at him. Looking at him and noticing how confused he looked – kind of like a lost puppy – just made her even angrier. She took a few steps closer to him and shoved at his chest to emphasize to him just how furious she was. "How dare you! How _dare_ you act like you didn't care that Alec was saying he wanted to take me to the dance! God, it's like you don't even care about me. Like you see our relationship or whatever this is as something that can easily be thrown away. I thought I meant more to you than that!" Tears filled her eyes and she blinked repeatedly to wash them out but it was no use. "How do you think that made me feel, Killian?" Her voice lowered on the next sentence, sounding more upset than angry. "Why would you act like it's okay for me to go the dance with a guy like him? With any guy that's not you?! I don't want you to hit any guy that comes near me but it'd be nice if you were just a little bit protective of me."

Killian ran his fingers through his messy hair, not paying attention to the fact that he'd had paint on that hand and it was now streaking his hair. "Gracie," he said in an exasperated and tired voice. "I _do_ care. I _am_ protective of you. That's why I didn't say anything, why I made it seem to Alec that I didn't care if you went with him. I just want you to be happy here and you won't be happy if everybody starts calling you a freak because you're dating me, because that's what they'll do. All the things they say to me, all the stupid rumours they start about me, they'll do the exact same thing to you. And I don't want to see that happen. Alec said he'll tell everybody about us if you didn't go to the dance with him, I was just trying to protect you from that. Are you really angry at me for that?" He paused and took a deep breath before shaking his head at her. "And for God's sake Gracie, stop it with the air! Your hair is going everywhere and you're making it hard for me to breathe, get it under control!"

And strangely, she did. Just like that her power stopped working, her hair fell flat and the air stopped swirling all around the room. It was like he was a calming effect on her, like with him around she had a better control of her power. It was a relief. She didn't feel angry anymore, she simply felt exhausted and upset. "Did you ever think that maybe I don't care anymore? That maybe, just maybe, being with you will be enough to make me happy whether people are saying stuff like that or not? I didn't think I would be happy at this school. I hated my parents for bringing me here and not giving me another chance. But now I'm glad that they did because I met you. Not just because of our relationship but because of our friendship. I've never had a friend like you before. And I don't want that to be a secret anymore."

"People will most likely turn against you," he said in a broken voice. It was clear that he wanted nothing more than for Gracie to be accepted and liked, to enjoy her time here.

"_I don't care_. They can't be true friends if they fall out with me because of the guy I'm dating. Screw them. Let Alec tell everyone, who cares?"

"But-"

"Killian, this is my choice. I'm telling you, you're practically the main reason that I'm starting to like it here now, I'm sick of being childish and keeping it a secret, okay?" She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm not bothered by what people will think anymore."

As her lips touched his, he encircled his arms around her waist and pulled her in closer. He held her tight as he deepened the kiss and Gracie's heart started pounding fast and loud in her chest. It still felt too good to be true, being held in his arms and kissing him. Feeling wanted by somebody as gorgeous and lovely as Killian... She didn't think she'd ever get used to this.

She was the first one to break the kiss, mumbling, "I'm still angry at you."

Killian chuckled and whispered, "I wouldn't expect anything else. I deserve it, I was stupid. I just wanted you to be happy, I'm sorry... I'm guessing you said no to Alec then?"

"Of course I did," she rolled her eyes. "I don't want to go to the dance with Alec. I'm waiting for my boyfriend to ask me, even though I know it isn't exactly his kind of thing. But you know, it's compulsory so he has no choice."

Killian bit his bottom lip, smirking. "Is that what I am? Your boyfriend?"

"I don't know. Is that what you want to be?" He nodded silently. "Then I guess you're my boyfriend."

Killian smiled and leant forward, pressing his lips against hers again. Then he led her to the bed where they sat beside each other with their backs against the headboard. He kept an arm around her shoulders and she rested hers against his, sighing in content. They sat like that without speaking for what felt like quite a while. Gracie usually hated sitting still in silence but this didn't bother her.

She liked Killian, she _really_ liked him. Enough so that she was already serious about him, already contemplating being with him for a long time. She wanted to phone her mum and gush about Killian to her, to let her mum know how jubilant he made her. She'd never felt that way before about anybody so that was one thing that let her know just how attached she already was to him. The only thing that would make this even better than it already was was if she found out that he was her soulfinder, her soulmate and one true love- but Gracie was too scared of disappointment to ask if they could speak telepathically to find out.

"So um," Killian broke the silence, "are you gonna tell me why your cheekbone is purple and bruised?"

"I walked into a door."

"And now the truth please?" He asked. She wasn't looking at his face but she could just imagine that he was raising his eyebrows.

She winced. "I don't want to tell you because it's a reason for me to keep on researching about The Illusionists and I know you don't want me doing that."

He sighed loudly. "Why does everything go back to them recently? You can tell me, it's okay. I promise not to get mad. I actually want to do some research myself, I remembered something from when I was younger. My parents were somehow involved with The Illusionists."

Gracie pulled back, looking at him in shock. "Seriously? Tell me everything. And I'll tell you what I've found out too."

"Sounds like we both have a lot to tell," he said, brushing a strand of Gracie's hair behind her ear absent-mindedly. "How about from now on we have no secrets, we tell each other everything?"

"I like the sound of that," she replied with a smile.

"Okay," he nodded. "So, my parents..."

* * *

Killian knew that he should be getting some sleep, especially considering it was about 1AM on a school night, but there were just too many thoughts in his erratic mind that he couldn't relax enough to sleep. He stumbled out of bed and turned on the lamp before going over to sit on the stool. He started working on his most recent painting whilst thinking at the same time.

Half of him was thinking of Gracie. Of how elated he was to finally have it official that they were boyfriend and girlfriend; of the softness of her lips against his and the lavender smell of her perfume; of how he wished they could have stayed in each other's arms forever.

But the rest of him was thinking about The Illusionists. Thanks to Gracie's information, he now knew that his family weren't the only ones being blackmailed by the group and that other families had been killed by them. But he also knew that this group of people had been up to the same tricks for years and years and years now and nobody was close to putting them away at all. And he was worried about Gracie. In 1990 a girl around her age had been brutally killed because she had been trying to find out who The Illusionists were and she apparently found out too much. What if they tried to do the same thing to Gracie? He wanted to protect her from that but he had no idea how.

He centred his mind to think only of the painting and looked at it. He'd painted a memory of his. He'd been the last one downstairs one morning on Christmas Day and he'd stopped in the doorway to look at his family. The twin girls, Caoimhe and Colleen, had been sat in front of the TV, giggling over the sight of some actor topless; the boy twins, Finbar and Lochlan, were rooting around under the tree and grabbing hold of all the presents with their names on while Aedan was telling them to wait until Killian came downstairs; Cara was curled up on the sofa reading a book which was a sight he often saw when it came to that sister. And his parents... His parents were stood in the corner talking quietly, smiling and looking totally in love like soulfinders were meant to be. A beautiful sight.

It was too painful for Killian to look at and think about right now. He turned around on the stool so that his back was to the painting and let out a long breath as tears filled his eyes. It was times like these, in the middle of the night when he was alone but for his thoughts, that it really hit him just how much he missed his family. They hadn't been perfect at all, but they were still his family and he longed to at least know what had happened to them and why they'd left him. That would soothe his mind- not to see them again, but to know what had happened to them. That's all he was asking for.

He froze and stopped breathing when he heard a floorboard creak outside of his bedroom door. Who on Earth would be wandering around the corridors at this time of night? He supposed it could have been the teacher on duty but somehow it didn't feel like it was. He had a strange gut feeling that it was somebody up to something and he had learnt by now to always trust his instincts.

With his eyes trained on the door, he didn't miss the note that was slipped under it. He rose to his feet and darted to the door, swinging it open and looking down the corridor. But nobody was there. It was like they'd disappeared; surely they couldn't have gotten away so quickly? Stepping back into the room, confused, he closed the door and bent down to pick up of the piece of paper. He unfolded it and read the words, cold with fear.

_Killian Ashe. Your mother has worked very hard to keep you hidden from us but we've just had a member join us who managed to get around your mother's shield on you. Tut tut, she had sloppy work according to him. We just thought that we would inform you that we have found you... We will be in touch again shortly. - The Illusionists._

* * *

**A hint about the next chapter: **The school has a surprise guest.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's note: This is just for people that have not read the message on my profile - Updates will become rather irregular now, I can't promise when the next update will be. I am now back at college and we are already getting a lot of coursework, this year is much more demanding than last year, so of course coursework is a bigger priority than writing fanfiction. I will write whenever I get a chance to but please do bear in mind that I have two other fanfics as well as this one so I have a lot to balance right now.

That doesn't mean I am not still writing! I _am_ still writing, I'm just going to be updating pretty irregularly.

On another note... I'VE REACHED 100 REVIEWS! Guys you honestly have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you so, so much to everybody that has ever left a review for this story, I really do appreciate it.

Please leave reviews of your thoughts on this chapter too, positive or negative, they all help! :) xo

* * *

**20****th**** February 2020**

It was unreal how judgemental teenagers could be sometimes. Students who had once greeted Gracie in the corridors in the morning now swerved to avoid her, looking her up and down and whispering amongst each other. From the snippets of conversation she heard, it was obvious that word had spread about her going to Killian's bedroom and emerging from the room a while later hand-in-hand with him as he walked her downstairs. Strangely nobody was mentioning Alec and Gracie wondered why he hadn't told anyone that he knew for certain they were dating. It annoyed her that people were reacting this way to something that had nothing to do with them, that they were going to ignore her and forget their friendship, simply because of who she was dating. How stupid was that? She wasn't going to lie and say that it didn't upset her because it did. But she wasn't going to cry over it and feel sorry for herself because at the end of the day, at least she was with Killian and they no longer had to hide their feelings for each other.

When she walked into the assembly hall, she held her held high and refused to meet anybody's gazes. She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of them thinking their attitude and gossip was bothering her. She scanned the heads of people in her peripheral vision until she saw the familiar messy strawberry-blonde hair.

She walked over to the second to front row and slid into the end seat on the row, giving a smile to Killian. Due to her class being the last ones into the hall, they didn't have time to talk as Mrs Burn walked onto the stage and cleared her throat. That one little sound somehow rang out around the room and made all the students fall silent and stop fidgeting around in their seat, their attention now focused on their headteacher. It would have been comical if she had not been followed by a tall, imposing man dressed is a dark suit and tie that looked thoroughly angry. A frown marred his face, adding to the lines of age, and his dark beady eyes scanned the rows of students as if looking for somebody in particular.

Gracie vaguely recognized him. As Mrs Burn thanked the students and teachers for coming to the assembly and apologized for interrupting a lesson, Gracie leaned in close to Killian. "I know him," she whispered. "He works for the Net and the FBI. When my aunt Persephone first moved to Colorado, he was part of the team working on her protection. Andrew Walsh, he's called. He always used to scare me, there was just something about him I didn't like. Last I heard, he lost out on this big promotion when my uncle Victor got it instead. Andrew was furious and moved to England where he got an even lower rank in the division than he'd had in America. He was pretty bitter apparently and was very rude a few years later when he ran into my dad and uncle Victor."

"I wonder what he's doing here," Killian mused in a whisper.

Gracie straightened back up in her seat as Mrs Burn introduced Andrew Walsh to the school as an FBI agent that was now the head of his division. He stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Good morning, students. First of all, I would like to congratulate you all on doing such a great job working on your education and power. I can tell you that us at the savant net are very impressed and look forward to one day taking on some of you and giving you jobs within the Net's branches.

"But I am afraid I am not here to give you all positive comments. I only wish that were the case. No, I am here for a more serious matter... I regret to inform you that your teachers have been keeping something from you for your own safety. But it has come to the point now where it would be more dangerous for you not to know.

"Five of your fellow students have gone missing, presumably kidnapped by a group of people the Net have a long history with. Katie Wilson; Joe Smith; Leah-Mae Pendergast; Noelle Davis; and Allie Parker."

Gracie exchanged a look with Killian. Of course they already knew about this but the rest of the school didn't, even the parents of the kids didn't know. Why had they made the sudden decision to tell the truth? The change gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach: them telling everybody meant this was even more serious than they'd originally thought. If that was even possible.

"The five students were kidnapped from school grounds. Their parents have been informed and we are doing everything in our power to find them, I can assure you of that," Andrew Walsh continued in a deep, emotionless voice. "But things are now going to be a little different around here to ensure your safety and make sure this doesn't happen to a sixth person. There are a few changes: your curfew will be changed from 8pm to 6pm, all students must be in their dorm by then and there will be teachers checking that; you may see police officers, agents of the Net or security guards walking around the campus- do not be intimidated by them, they are simply there to help and do patrols of the grounds; and your weekend privileges of being allowed to leave school grounds and go into the village are temporarily cancelled."

A protesting murmur spread through the hall as the students complained about how unfair that was and how it was like the school had become a jail. Gracie agreed with them mostly, even if they were being a little melodramatic, and she couldn't believe the school were going to such lengths to protect the students from The Illusionists. But she didn't protest because she still had nightmares of the night Allie was taken and she dreaded to find out that had happened to another student. She was thoroughly glad the school were finally taking measures to protect the students.

"Quiet!" Mrs Burn shouted over the racket. It took a long minute but finally the voices hushed down and their attention fell back to their headteacher. "I am disappointed that you all have reacted this way! We are doing this for your own welfare and protection. Do you really want to hear about more of your classmates being kidnapped and disappearing? No, you don't. And neither do we which is why these new school rules are temporarily in place. This is the end of this discussion and I will not be making any exceptions for anyone."

She started to dismiss people class-by-class and Gracie's class was second to be called out to leave. She quickly turned in her seat to Killian and said, "meet me in the stables at dinner, okay?"

"Sure," he nodded. "I have something to tell you about anyway, about _you know who_."

Knowing that he meant The Illusionists, Gracie nodded and stood up to leave the hall. She wondered what he had to talk to her about that she didn't already know but couldn't linger on the thought too long. As she joined the crowd of students leaving the hall, a girl in one of her classes bumped into her. She looked down at Gracie and sneered before turning to her friend and speaking loud enough for Gracie and those around her to hear. "Did you see her sat next to that freak?" She laughed. "I can't believe she comes from one of the best savant families there is, they must be so ashamed of her-"

She cut off abruptly as she was shoved backwards, stumbling into other students. Sam stood in front of her and said in a clear voice, "give it a rest, Bethany. At least Gracie hasn't slept with half of the guys here like you have. If anyone's family should be ashamed, it should be yours." She spun around and came over to Gracie, hooking her arm with her roommate's.

"Sam, what was that about?" Gracie asked as they started to walk again, shocked. "You've been ignoring me for days, I thought you were like them and didn't want anything to do with me because of Killian..."

"I did feel like that," she nodded. "But in assembly, when I heard that Allie had been kidnapped... God, I can't believe it. How did I not know? I'm her best friend, I shouldn't have believed that she'd leave without saying goodbye to everybody. It just doesn't make sense." Gracie had the sudden urge to tell Sam the truth: that she did know Allie had been taken, she just didn't remember it, but she managed to keep her mouth closed and not say anything. "Anyway, it got me thinking. You, me and Allie were such good friends and why should that be any different now just because you were stupid and ignored our warnings about Killian? Allie didn't like the guy but she had a feeling something was going on with you and him. I thought she was crazy but she insisted there was something there. And she didn't care. She knew about the rumours but she trusted you. She said something along the lines of 'if Gracie can see the good in him, then I trust her judgement.' I think that if she were here, she'd be sticking up for you and she'd expect me to do the same. So here we are."

Gracie paused for a moment before squeezing Sam's arm and grinning. "I'm really glad that you see it that way. I missed you, Sam. I'm glad that I have my friend back."

* * *

Killian had told Gracie about the note that had been slipped under his door the night before in a huge rush, barely taking a second to breathe. He just wanted to get it out of his system, to finally tell someone instead of keeping it bottled up inside. Now he found himself sat on the floor of the stables with Gracie, her leaning her back against a gate and him resting his head lightly on her chest and the top of her breast, her running her fingers through his hair and him tracing patterns on the leggings she wore, his soft touch against the inside of her thigh.

"What do you think it means?" Gracie asked him quietly. Killian got the feeling that she didn't know how to talk about the subject with him, as if she wasn't sure how he would react. He was grateful for her consideration but it also made him feel weak, like she thought he couldn't handle it.

He sighed loudly. "I guess it means they've been looking for me," he replied, trying to sound as casual as he could about it. He didn't want to let on to her how scared he was, he wanted her to think he was stronger than he was. "I have no idea what they'll do now that they've found me."

"And the part about your mum?"

"I guess she knew that something like this would happen, that they'd come looking for me," he said slowly. "So she put a shield on me to hide me from their trackers, that's what her power was."

"Do you think her shield would stay intact this long?" Gracie questioned with a tone of doubt in her voice.  
"I don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe. If not, that means she's been around me and she's still alive, making sure the shield is strong. But that would also mean that she's staying away from me even though she knows how much I've been struggling and how bad my life became. What kind of mother would do that? If I found out that was the truth, I'd never forgive her. I'd never forgive any of them."

"Don't say that," she said gently, her hands moving from his hair to the back of his neck, which she lightly stroked repeatedly. It was comforting and relaxing to him. "They must have a very relevant reason as to why they haven't come back for you if they are still alive. 'Don't judge anybody until you know their full story', that's what my dad always says."

"You're lucky," he said, not spitefully but with a little jealousy. "You have a family that loves you and cares for you, and I'm really glad you have that. I haven't had a family since I was 9. I was happy at Bronagh's but I still didn't feel at home, then I lived in the children's home and you know what happened there, and now the school is the only place I have. I have no idea where I'm going to in two years time when we finish school."

Gracie surprised him by saying, "you can come back to America with me. I don't reckon it'll be hard to convince my parents. Or you never know, we both might get into a really great university and go there together. You never know what the future holds."

Killian smiled. He loved how she could turn a conversation around in a way that it didn't feel on purpose and always made him feel better. He also loved how she was thinking of his future and without any hesitation she included herself in it.

"You're my soulfinder, you know that right?" He asked as a feeling of knowing overcame him, one that said she _would_ be in his life still in two years time.

Gracie stopped caressing his neck, her body going stiff. "What?"

Killian straightened up so that they were face-to-face and he could look into her wide, shocked eyes. "You're my soulfinder," he repeated.

"You can't know that," she said defensively, shaking her head in protest. "We haven't spoken telepathically at all, there's no way for you to know that for sure."

"You're right. I don't know for sure. But I feel it here," he rested a hand against his chest where his heart was. "I just really feel that you're the one I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with. You make me feel things no other person has before. I _know_ you're my soulfinder, I can feel it without even having you talk to me telepathically. And I know that you're terrified of finding out I'm not yours and that's why you won't agree to speak into my mind to find out for certain, and that's okay. You'll do that when you're ready. But for now I'm telling you that I believe you're my soulfinder."

Gracie was speechless. She simply sat there, staring at him, until she finally managed to whisper his name. "Killian..."

"Ah, I was hoping you two would be in here!" Danielle's voice made them lose eye contact and look up at her, the moment ruined. "A few of the horses need exercising, I thought I'd let you go riding again. Gracie, you ride Ruby seeing as you're the only person she likes," she smiled. "Killian, do you mind riding Frosty?"

"Sure," he nodded and stood up, turning around to hold a hand out for Gracie and helped her to her feet. As they headed over to get the equipment needed, he asked her, "are you okay? I haven't scared you away, have I?" He chuckled nervously.

"Of course not," she shook her head. "It's just that I know how difficult it is to find your soulfinder and I don't want you getting your hopes up. Yeah, it'd be great if we _were_ soulfinders, but the chances of that actually being true are very little. I don't want either of us to be disappointed, especially if we start believing that it's true."

"Yeah but I bet you'd love to believe it; who wouldn't want me as a soulfinder? I'm amazing," he joked in an attempt to lighten the air, pairing his words with a cheeky grin.

Gracie smiled and rolled her eyes, a look of sadness in her expression that only Killian would recognize because he was the only one who knew her that well. All he'd done was tell her the truth about how he felt. He really did believe she was meant to be his and he was meant to be hers. A part of him was wishing for her to take a chance and let him find out for certain whilst another part of him was wishing that he hadn't spoke too soon and that he wasn't going to lose her like he lost everybody else that he loved.

And that was the moment Killian Ashe finally realised he was madly in love with Gracie Benedict.

* * *

**A hint about the next chapter:** The two new boys in their second year of sixth form oddly seem familiar to Gracie.


End file.
